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“Walk the Gemba to Improve Your Leadership Abilities”

Michael Bremer Shingo Research Award Recipient

- 2016“How to do A Gemba Walk”

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Wisdom requires effort!

Brush away your assumptions and “See”

what is really happening in your work

environment

Gemba = The Real Place

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Structure is Simple

• Define Purpose & Prepare• Do the Walk– Go See– Ask ‘What’ then ‘Why’– Show Respect

• Debrief the Walk

But learning while you walk is not simple

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• Why doing it?– Seeking to understand– Develop people– Waste walk

• Different Type Walks– Supervisor (multiple times per day )– Leadership team walk (2 or 3 times per day)– Value Stream walk (weekly)– Waste identification walk (a common starting point)– Executive walk (people from outside the facility - periodic)

Prepare for Walk

Define Purpose

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Do the Walk

• Do people:– Understand purpose of work?– Follow standard work practices?– Understand performance expectations and why?– Use a scientific thought process for problem

resolution?• Are people inhibited from doing their jobs by

organizational support systems?

Go See

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Do the Walk

• Anyone can look around, good observations require skill

• What work are people doing?• What are the targets? • Why important?• How are we progressing?

Ask What, Then Why?

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Do the Walk• Ask open-ended questions• Listen more than you talk• Create a safe environment• Always jump to the 5 Whys, never the 5 Whos• Don’t remove problem ownership, trust

people to act when they learn to ‘see it’• Help people gain confidence

Show Respect

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Debrief the Walk• What was done well?• What could be done better?• Did the questioner remain humble?

Close the debrief by asking these questions:• Did we make any decisions during the walk?• How to communicate that decision?• How to follow-up on progress?

Debrief the Walk

Take a Walk

Change Your Perspective

Make it Visual

Care for Others

ChoicesChoi

ces

Choices

Three Powerful Levers

Change Your Perspective

Make it Visual

Care for Others

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Changing PerspectiveChanges the Experience

Lever #1

Is the ‘A’ Square and the ‘B’ Square the same color?

http://web.mit.edu/persci/people/adelson/checkershadow_proof.htm

Get close to see with Your Own Eyes

• Go to the Gemba – where the “action is”

• See with your own eyes• Probe beneath the surface• Experience reality as

others see it• Find ways to change how

you see the world

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Understand WhyThe ‘1’ Why or Key Purpose

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“….most problems in an organization are the result of the processes not the people working in the system”

Dr. W. Edwards Deming

Do you really believe

this is true?

Increase Your

Process Awareness

Who Experiences problems during your work day that typically requires a work around?

IneffectivePowerless

Over Come Your Fear

This is a powerful way to change your perspective!

Let go of

the past

What am I afraid of?

Why am I afraid?

What would I do if I were not afraid?

How would I feel Without the fear?

4Power

Questions

Courtesy of Traci Fenton, WorldBlu

Take a Walk

Change Your Perspective

Make it Visual

Care for Others

ChoicesChoi

ces

Choices

Three Powerful Levers

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Do You Trust People?

Agreement

OpennessCredibility

Trust

Reduce Risk By

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Coach more critical thinking skills

• Open-ended questions• Listen more than talk• Create a safe

environment

Take a Walk

Change Your Perspective

Make it Visual

Care for Others

ChoicesChoi

ces

Choices

Three Powerful Levers

20Who uses ActiveLink, Fitbit or some similar device?

Lever #3 Make it Visual - Are we winning or losing?

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Can’t overdo this a great way to communicate

Make the invisible easy

to see

Request for Proposal Info Board

Visual Work Mgmt. - Scheduling

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Everything in life is an Experiment

Learn by refreshing your perspective

Take a Walk

Change Your Perspective

Make it Visual

Care for Others

ChoicesChoi

ces

Choices

Three Powerful Levers

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A Simple Structure

• Define Purpose & Prepare• Do the Walk– Go See– Ask ‘What’ then ‘Why’– Show Respect

• Debrief the Walk

A powerful learning tool!

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Welcome to Connect• Learn about your experiences • You can use this material• Happy to connect on LinkedIn or

Twitter @michaelbremer• michael@cumberlandchicago.com• 630-235-4210• Thanks for being here

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om/44osfyu

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