the difference between continual improvement & continuous improvement

Continuous means "without interruption" while continual means "frequent, repeated or seemingly without interruption".
Continuous is "go go go..." while continual is "start stop start stop start..."

用哪个词好，是个问题。。。
摘抄两篇文章如下：仁者见仁，智者见智。。。

The Continual Improvement vs. Continuous Improvement Dilemma...
This issue has received wide discussion on many fronts. Both terms are commonly used. At MCTS, we see a substantial difference between continual and continuous.
Please bear in mind however that in the "eyes" of ISO 9000 there is no difference between continual and continuous. The concept of "continual" improvement is the term that Deming always used in reference to the general processes of improvement.
Deming's understanding of improvement was much broader then many people seem to understand. He included people, as well as systems in his views and philosophy. Deming's application of SPC (Statistical Process Control) was focused primarily on continuous improvement of existing (and almost exclusively manufacturing) processes. His philosophical discussions, however, included considerations much further "upstream" as applied to other less repetitive management arenas.
The concept of "continual improvement" is understood here to be the general strategy that typically consists of both “continuous process improvements,” like SPC, and “discontinuous function or systemic improvements” like organizational “reengineering” or throwing out dysfunctional methods of management and starting over instead of trying to continually improve ineffective business strategies. Also included are Deming’s 14 Points of Management.
Another example illustrated in coaching work with executives’ shows that sometimes the best way to move forward is to move sideways, so to speak. If the process in place is dysfunctional, a functional exec must move toward a new set of assumptions which may result in short term discontinuous failure which then leads to longer term continual improvement. This is a useful distinction because it makes no sense to continuously improve on what may be a dysfunctional process.
Redesigning an entire organization is a “discontinuous” activity that, once redesigned, individual or related processes can then be continuously improved. All too often "reengineering" in the 80’s resulted in many "downsizing" strategies that caused a great deal of human damage in companies worldwide. The change-agent’s background as an engineer seldom provided insightful perspectives on people issues in those days. Many organizations still do not understand Deming’s main points though his principles are clear.
The distinction between continuous improvement and continual improvement became clear for many of us in Reengineering the Corporation by Michael Hammer and James Champy. They spent a portion of their book distinguishing reengineering from the continuous improvement emphasis that they (mistakenly) attributed to Deming (primarily). Their argument was that continuous improvement was limited to linear, incremental improvement, while their approach lead to radical change and improvement. However, Deming's understanding of improvement was much broader and included the type of thinking that they were proposing.
Again, Deming himself never used the term "continuous improvement". Rather, he used the term "continual improvement". This was an intentional distinction that Deming made. He often objected when people associated him with continuous improvement. Continual improvement is broader in scope than continuous improvement. Continuous improvement is a subset of continual improvement. Continual improvement also includes room for discontinuous improvements (improvements that are not like in kind to what came before - another term for this might be innovative or radical improvements such as are sought after in most reengineering efforts, or in the lean manufacturing movement). Continuous improvements are linear, incremental improvements to an existing process (Kaizen). Continual improvement includes this, as well as discontinuous/innovative improvement. In other words, continual improvement speaks to the PROCESS of improvement (always and forever (continually) ongoing, in all of its forms and in all areas) rather than the NATURE of the improvements (continuous vs discontinuous).
Thinking of continual improvement vs. continuous improvement serves to highlight the importance of developing learning disciplines on a much deeper level than most organizations seem interested in considering. If continual improvement is to be attained, the organization will be, by definition a learning organization.
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Continuous Improvement vs. Continual ImprovementBy Jon Miller | Post Date: June 8, 2008 10:23 PM | Comments: 6
Most organizations implementing lean principles today do not in fact practice "continuous improvement". What they practice would be better termed "continual improvement". The distinction between continual improvement and continuous improvement is a fine but important one. Continuous means "without interruption" while continual means "frequent, repeated or seemingly without interruption". Continuous is "go go go..." while continual is "start stop start stop start..." Continual improvement is far better than no improvement at all but it is far from world class and not the aim of lean.
In practical terms you can think of an alarm clock ringing and ringing without interruption as continuously ringing. Hitting the snooze button of a ringing alarm clock only to have it start ringing again later that morning and then hitting the snooze button again, would be an example of a continually ringing alarm clock. If the alarm clock did not go off at all and we could sleep in that may be ideal, just as it may be good to take a break from kaizen on some days so that ideas and energies can be refreshed. Neither continuous improvement nor continual improvement implies that we spend every waking (no sleeping) moment doing kaizen.
For some reason many organizations implement lean from the middle of the organization outwards. One possible reason is that the sponsorship from lean is at middle or senior management rather than the very top of the organization. This creates the need to implement lean as a series of projects led by lean experts rather than a transformation led by a fully engaged leadership and management team. These projects may be very successful. Often they are designed to demonstrate how lean systems will deliver specific desired business results. But projects have scopes and boundaries and by definition are discrete or at best continual and not continuous activities.
Kaizen events break projects down into a more frequent and repetitive series of rapid improvement activities. I know many good companies who have "continuously" been running kaizen events month after month for over a decade. But I am skeptical that relying chiefly on kaizen events represents true continuous improvement. Combined with projects that look across an entire site or value stream, kaizen event-driven lean implementation can greatly accelerate change. The glue that holds these kaizen activities and events together and makes continuous improvement possible is the practice of kaizen as part of daily management.
Kaizen in daily management includes everything from managers finding teaching moments with their subordinates as they make their walks through the gemba, to team leaders helping team members develop complaints into problem statements into root cause analysis exercises and implemented suggestions, to the engineer or manager running to the red andon lamp and making a rapid response to problems that have been identified and escalated.
In other words continuous improvement is not about the exciting, high-energy kaizen events and high-impact lean implementation projects but all about the sometimes boring grind that gets us through the day. The good news is that there's plenty of it for all of us. If that doesn't get you up in the morning there's always continual improvement for you.