Gemba walk for blind managers

MANY people and organizations don’t know what they’re missing. That’s because they’re often confined within the enclosure of their own box, unmindful of a trite maxim — thinking outside of the box. That’s why being engrossed in one’s work is poison. Being proximate to one’s work can make you blind and dull to the many opportunities out there.

A case in point is a woman manager who asked me on how to make her job easy. Fine! That’s an admirable, realistic, and wonderful goal. Who likes to do boring and tedious work every day? “What’s your proposed solution?” I asked her. Without blinking her fake eyelashes, she quipped: “To hire at least three clerical workers.”

So, what was the reply of top management to your proposal? “Nothing!” she said.

Of course, management’s stance is understandable. “Silence is the best reply to a fool,” according to Imam Ali, one of the most revered figures in Islamic history. It’s better to remain silent rather than disgorge out uncharitable remarks against one’s stupid idea.

Many organizations are limited by their own resources and if you don’t understand this, then you don’t deserve to be a manager.

Even if an organization is earning a lot of money, hiring more workers is not always the best answer. The option, of course, is to look at things differently. Chances are, you can discover many solutions that you’ve not thought of before.

Start by improving first the work process. If you’re successful, you can get the best possible result.

Gemba Walk

I’m often invited by some organizations to take a deep dive view of their working conditions within the context of kaizen and lean thinking. We call it a Gemba Walk. It is akin to a plant tour, except that a guest consultant like me gives insights on the actual state of one’s actual business operations using the parameters of world-class organizations.

I’ve visited more than 200 offices and factories, mostly in Japan, the Philippines and recently Spain, in a span of 30 years. Every time I make a reflection of my last visit, I would often come to a conclusion that what’s real is utterly opposed to what they’re saying.

Gemba is a Japanese word that describes the place where value is created and non-value things are reduced, if not eliminated. It’s like Management by Walking Around done by an outsider with a trained set of eyes on what defines a world-class excellence. It’s not an audit process, blame game or performance evaluation, but a friendly way of learning through an outsider’s objective view.

When doing a Gemba Walk, my approach is to ask a lot of questions to random workers or their shop floor supervisors. I don’t give the answer right away. That’s better reserved for a boardroom debriefing.

Everything must be documented via still photographs and video for review later on. No, I don’t ask for a copy of those materials. I don’t need them. Besides, I respect an organization’s right to their trade secret, either their mistakes or successes. To do this, I’ll be the first person to volunteer signing a non-disclosure agreement.

But even without it, I fully respect people and organizations who trust me in reviewing their operations. Being trusted is priceless. After all, if you’re telling the truth, you don’t have to remember so many things to prevent people from thinking you’re a liar.

External factors

What can we do next? The lesson is easy than what you can imagine. Be outwardlooking. Look at your company’s current performance and analyze the average rate, say for the past three years. If other organizations can do it, then why can’t you? The answer lies in the fact that most management people keep the issue close to their chest, and yet they do nothing.

Either, they don’t know what to do or they don’t care. Even if they do a daily Gemba Walk, which is the prescribed dose, still they don’t get much improvement because what they aspire for is limited to wishful thinking. I’ve seen this happening the moment I entered an office or factory.

The moment I encountered a broken lobby wall clock or a smelly toilet, I can expect the same thing happening in other areas. How you solve big things when you can’t even manage a broken clock and stinking toilet? The result is often disastrous. Take a minute or two in digesting this, and you’ll find out why your organization remains to be an industry bottom-dweller.

Rey Elbo is a consultant specializing in human resources and total quality management. Contact him on Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Twitter) or email elbonomics@gmail.com or via https:// reyelbo.com