5 (Other) Reasons To Go To The Gemba

The gemba is the place where the work is done. Lean managers "go to the gemba" to see it for themselves (genchi genbustu). This might be done during a continuous improvement (kaizen) project. Recently, I've had the pleasure of spending many hours in the gemba with our support staff. We are going firm-wide with a new document workflow, which we've been testing with a pilot group for the last six months. During our sessions, we've identified a lot of waste and generated great ideas for improving our processes.

I've also discovered -- or maybe rediscovered -- five other reasons for going to the gemba.

1. Reaffirm respect for people. As a manager, it's easy to get preoccupied with your own work demands and forget about the day-to-day contributions others make to the organization. Seeing your people in action reminds you of their talent and dedication.
2. Communicate. Organizations usually use email, intranet posts, and large meetings to communicate their goals and plans. But one-on-one meetings and small groups allow for more frank and focused discussions. And some people aren't comfortable talking at formal meetings. The gemba might be just the right context for a critical interaction. It also gives people the chance to ask questions, in person and in real-time. Sometimes the gemba is the first chance you get to really explain why you are doing a particular project.
3. Remind people that you care. This might sound overly sentimental, but spending time with your people reminds them that you genuinely value their work and talent. It also reinforces the message that you appreciate their ideas and contributions to designing work processes.
4. See other important issues. You might observe a problem that demands an immediate response. Perhaps it's a major form of waste with a quick or even an on-the-spot solution. Sometimes a person's worklife can be radically improved just by realizing they need a new $6.00 tool. And though hopefully there aren't any safety problems, but if there are, this is a chance to correct them before someone gets hurt.
5. Learn something new. By watching and discussing the work with your people, it's guaranteed you'll learn something unexpected about your organization, your industry, and the work.

It's hard to take time away from your work to go to the gemba. But these reasons make it well worth it.

Reports From Shingo Prize Conference

(updated) Just a quick note to be sure and check out Mark Graban's reports from the Shingo Prize Conference.  In comments, Mark writes that he plans on interviewing Stephen Covey tomorrow.

In his report on Day 1, Mark relays this nugget from Bruce Hamilton about Shigeo Shingo's priorities for improvement:

1. Easier
2. Better
3. Faster
4. Cheaper

That makes a whole lot of sense from a Lean perspective, for reasons Mark goes into.  But of course this priority list would be completely inverted for most managers.

Update: Mark's interview with Stephen Covey can be read and heard here.

Saving Lives By Reducing Medical Errors

Chasing Zero: Winning the War on Healthcare Harm is airing on the Discovery Channel and available for viewing online.

The "war" metaphor seems inappropriate, and casting error as the "enemy" doesn't resonate for me. It's just not an accurate description of quality culture, which stresses collaboration, humility, and careful thinking. Nevertheless, the show features some interesting interviews with quality leaders in the healthcare industry and a look at some of their methodologies.

Toyoda's Testimony

Today, I watched some of the Congressional testimony of Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota, and Yoshimi Inaba, chief operating officer for North America.

First off, as to how to respond to the Toyota recall from a Lean perspective, I'm essentially in agreement with Mark Graban over at Lean Blog, who pithily says what needs to be said. Here's his post regarding today's testimony. And obviously, my sympathy goes out to those hurt in vehicle accidents and their families. But I trust our tort system will do a fair job of compensating any victims and punishing any wrongdoers. For purposes of assessing fault, these hearings seemed premature.

Instead, the most fascinating thing for me is the chance to see inside Toyota as an organization. If Toyota failed to get things right -- and the executives seem to have admitted as much -- we have the opportunity to learn why -- really why, and not just hear spin from various factions or carefully crafted press releases.

Just given the incredibly public nature of this inquiry, we are likely to learn a lot. But more importantly, unlike many organizations, Toyota has clearly articulated standards, making deviations from the standard more apparent. With a solid basis for comparison -- a theoretical ideal serving as a control -- we stand to gain real insight.

D. Mark Jackson

Checklists: Get Consensus and Follow Up

Matthew May just finished Atul Gawande's The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, a book high up on my own reading list. Matt discusses two criteria for checklists:

• Clarity. Assume an untrained eye will read it. Make it bullet-proof, specific, and complete, to capture the knowledge. Make it concrete and representative of the real world. Describe with precision the what, where, and how. That way, there’s no question of what constitutes a deviation or problem.
• Consensus. Everyone who will employ the standard must agree on it. That forces a shared investigation to ensure that the standard represents the best known method or practice at that specific point in time. The activity in turn facilitates understanding.

The consensus part is where most organizations fall short. This is resource intensive. But to get it right, managers must practice genchi genbutsu -- that is, they need to go see for themselves how the work is being done. This takes time and may be perceived as a distraction from "real" work (like putting out fires started because of the lack of good standard processes!).

May suggests three basic steps for deploying a checklist:

1. Establish a Best Practice. Make sure it’s the best-known method. Get input and feedback from those doing the work. Get agreement on it.
2. Make it Visible. Accessibility is key. Hiding it in a drawer won’t work. Post it or publish it so everyone will constantly be aware of it.
3. Communicate. Inform everyone. Prepare and train people. Test it out. Monitor effectiveness and usage.

Step three also takes more time than some managers wish to invest. Training is expensive. It's also difficult to summon the energy after training for follow up. Folks are happy just to be done.

But I'm a huge believer in the power of checklists for lawyers. My experience is that a good checklist pays for itself almost immediately in saved time and reduced errors, sometimes recouping its production costs the first time it is deployed.

D. Mark Jackson

Lean Writing

Can lean improve your writing?  Let's take two essential lean concepts and see how they apply.

Minimize Waste

Eliminating unnecessary words makes for good writing. Ask any editor or writing coach. Removing unneeded words is reducing waste in your writing.

Think of editing as a form of kaizen, the process of continuous improvement.

Respect for People

How often do litigators exchange briefs or letters filled with invective and hyperbole?  By all accounts, judges hate this. This style of writing may satisfy the emotional needs of lawyers and their clients, but it rarely serves their interests. Yet many lawyers persist in thinking that diligence requires them to be mean and disrespectful. As Gary Kinder teaches, judges want to be fair and are more likely to be persuaded by your writing if it is fair too. Therefore, showing respect for your adversaries and their lawyers makes you a better advocate.

D. Mark Jackson