Go to the Gemba: a masterful instruction for LEAN leadership
Actual Place, Actual Thing
“When I have spent too much time in a conference room, that’s generally when things have gone awry. When I go to spend time on the factory floor, or really using the cars, thinking about the rockets, that’s where things have gone better.”
Elon Musk exhorted CEOs and leaders to spend more time on the frontline. In a rather high profile way, his comment brought to light the importance LEAN places on going to the gemba. In this post, I look at this powerful concept and its centrality to LEAN operations.
Genchi Genbutsu
The word gemba comes from Japanese and literally means the place. In our context, it’s the location where product or service is produced. Interpreted using LEAN concepts, it’s the place where value is created.
One of the 14 principles of the Toyota Production System (TPS) is to “Go to the gemba and see for yourself”. This is often represented by the phrase Genchi Genbutsu which translates literally to “actual place, actual thing”. The best elaboration of the term comes from Toyota itself:
“going to the source” — is about checking the facts yourself, so you can be sure you have the right information you need to make a good decision.
