Anchoring is what decides whether an improvement still works a year on: standards owned locally, routines that run without external help, and leaders who follow up as a habit — not as a project. Improvements without anchoring have a half-life of months.
The classic failure: a successful project, great results, the consultant leaves — and six months later everything is as before. The cause is rarely reluctance but a missing system: no one owns the standard, no routine detects the slip, and the leader’s attention has moved to the next project.
The anchoring test is best asked before the project starts: who owns this process in a year? Which daily routine will detect if it slips? If no one can answer, you are about to build another flash in the pan.