Gemba Tales Blog

Effective coaching requires feedback, both positive (aka reinforcing) and corrective. Think of it as a check, or “C,” in our individual and team-based application of PDCA. We can’t sustainably improve without it. 

In other words, open-looped systems don’t work well for processes or people. If we don’t discern and understand the gap, we won’t be compelled to change. The change is the “A,” or adjust, in PDCA.

Now, let’s focus our attention on corrective feedback.

Matrices help prompt, organize, and efficiently display information. When the design is standardized, such as with (most) strategy deployment x-matrices, they facilitate a quick, universal grasp of the individual fields and their relationship with other fields. For example, a seasoned user can glance at an x-matrix and discern the small handful of breakthrough objectives, the associated annual (meaning this year’s) measurable targets, the corresponding annual improvement priorities, and their targets and means.

With all due respect to Johnny Cash and his song, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” most of the time, you SHOULD walk alone…at least when executing your gemba walk leader standard work.

I know that sounds anti-social and in direct contradiction to the sentiments of teamwork and coaching, but it’s not. Let me explain.

Mention the term “gemba walk” among a group of lean practitioners and there will likely be immediate acknowledgement. We’ve all heard of gemba walks, right?

All leaders should do them.

Many do not.

Many do…but certainly not in the same way and not necessarily for the same reason.

The Lean Effect podcast, which is hosted and produced by Mark DeJong, recently released an interview with Mark Hamel, entitled Building Lean Organizations: Insights from Award-Winning Lean Expert Mark Hamel. Really, my mother had no influence on title creation.

We can reasonably characterize the people-related principles of lean by three leadership behaviors:

Situation. A multi-national manufacturer was implementing a lean management system (LMS) in a phased manner within one o

I am halfway through reading, what I consider (thus far), an important lean book.

What do bus schedules have to do with a lean management system? Quite a bit…even though, obviously, the notion of a bus schedule i

I remember, years ago, watching my oldest child struggle in his attempt to loosen a bolt. This was one of those all too few, brief, and shining child-rearing moments where I could easily and quickly share some trusty words of wisdom. “Righty tighty, lefty loosey.” I’m pretty sure that my son’s response was somewhere in the vicinity of, “Huh?” Not the effect that I was looking for necessarily. …Nevertheless, I’m going to try to apply the same advice, but to a different subject (totally without threaded parts). Strategy deployment (a.k.a. policy deployment, hoshin kanri, etc.). Huh?