Aam aadmi at work, Gemba Kaizen

It was a motley group of people; staff from various departments in the hotel. The Sensei was clear - we were to leave out No one - not the guy who washed the pots in the kitchen, nor the laundry man, or the doorman. It didn't matter that they didn't speak much English, didn't matter if their qualification did not cross the 10th pass. Nothing mattered except one thing - that they were the people who carried out the tasks, and their immediate supervisors - people who worked in the departments whose processes we were trying to improve.

We were not convinced. I was quite vocal in my protest. After all, he expected me to create magic, and show significant improvement in the metrics - from process cycle time to quality/defects; and here he was, denying me the team I wanted. I had asked for the managers of each of the teams, along with qualified experts to be put on the job of improvement. But he was the specialist flown in from Japan, here to help us use the 'Gemba Kaizen' techniques to improve the workplace. And so I had to toe the line and do as told.

The day assigned for the project meeting came - with about 40 individuals sitting in the conference room. They were ill at ease, and so was I. They had never been asked to sit in the swank room, and no one ever asked them how their work can be simplified, streamlined, and improved. They were used to being told what to do, what to change 'just do what I say, I know best'.

The sensei started with an introduction to the concepts and put the team into smaller cross-functional groups - each of them owning a specific work process. They were given 24 hours to study their work, identify what can be done to improve cycle time, reduce defects, reduce effort, and remove 'waste'. The terms muda, muri, etc floated around the room, and over most heads. They were told that they had full freedom to implement whatever changes they wanted to, get the desired improvement.

To cut a long story short, in 24 hours, the team working on the laundry broke walls and changed the physical layout, the team that washed the heavy pots and pans built new sinks and changed the taps, and everyone pitched in and did what it took - achieving seemingly impossible levels of improvement, working through the day and night. In 24 hours, they made improvements that sustained, and got better over a period of time. It was magical. Solutions were innovative and simple - making the leaders and me go 'Wow, why did we never think of this?'

I learned a few lessons then, that have stayed with me all through, that underpins every initiative I drive.

1. The 'aam aadmi', the man on the job, knows it the best; has the best answers, provided you ask the right questions. The role of the Sensei, the manager, is to help him see what he does in a new light, help him to challenge the status quo, and break the belief that 'this is how it has to be, this is how it is always done'- to provide techniques and tools to do that.
2. The 'aam aadmi' needs to have the sense of urgency, and the empowerment to try new ways of doing and being - without fear of failure, or the need for approval. There should be no lag between the identification of opportunities/problems, ideation of solutions, and implementing the same. Give him the resources he needs, and let him go - don't make it a lengthy process. Everyone loses steam.
3. Everyone who has a role should be there, young or old, experienced or newbie. And everyone's opinion and ideas are equally valuable. The sensei's role is to encourage openness to all ideas and to help people see each other's work and challenges.
4. The Sensei should create an atmosphere that is non-threatening, non-judgemental, with no blame or shame. Everyone should feel comfortable facing what was wrong, and the intent should be set to improve; forward looking and not to look back or question 'who' is responsible, even ask 'why didn't anyone see it till now' - it is important to stay focused on what it takes to improve, nothing else matters
5. When people who own a task or a process get together and improve it, they OWN the change - they made it; not their boss; not the consultant; not the quality guru. And therefore, they will stand by it, they will do the new, and enforce the new. This goes a long way in sustaining the change
6. Let people celebrate, let there be a 'win' for everyone involved. People who feel good about the change they made are willing to go further; they will also encourage others to do it.

Wondering what triggered this post? Well, I just finished a two day workshop for a function that is usually not called in to introspect and improve their own work; I used the philosophy I learnt two decades ago from this sensei; and I saw the same magic start to happen; and felt humbled, validated and elated all at the same time. Couldn't resist writing about it.

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