The Art of Going to the Genba in a Product Development Work Environment

This is a topic that I like. We have already started a foreign word of which we have certainly lost much of the meaning in translation. In a looser translation, genba is the place where work is carried out. Specifically, work where value addition occurs. But I'm not going to dwell on this word in this article. Our goal at this time is to pause for a moment to reflect on three important elements of being with people so that innovation and collaboration can develop in a psychologically safe workplace.

1. The three elements to carry out a good workplace visit

In his book "Lean Product and Process Development", Prof. Allen C Ward highlights three fundamental elements for good problem-solving practice: "Go Se", "Ask Why" and, "Show Respect". There are several ways to describe these elements and how to apply them in everyday life. I will stick to what I learned in practice and in the context of wanting to solve a problem.

i. Go See

There is no better way to understand the current situation to solve a problem than being in the place where it occurred or is occurring. There may be many reasons that prevent you from doing this daily, from travel costs to financial or budgetary restrictions. Still, being as close as possible to the place where the situation in question occurs, the better our ability to discern what is happening.

Yes, reports or reports from other people are important, and being there to observe with our own eyes and draw conclusions about what is happening is essential. I lost count of how many times situations described to me were different from what I saw when I was there or when people who tried to solve problems without ever having been to the place where the problem they wanted to solve were surprised when they went to the place, talked to people and then a certain "magic" happened. Hearts disarm and in the search for a common solution countermeasures emerge. I never tire of seeing this phenomenon happen. It's almost poetry.

"Hearts disarm and in the search for a common solution countermeasures emerge. I never tire of seeing this phenomenon happen. It's almost poetry."

ii. Ask Why

The original phrase in the work is "Ask why the hard questions". Why is this occurring? How did it happen? When did it occur? Who was working at the time? Be careful with this last question. It's not about looking for culprits. But it is necessary to know which people we will need to talk to to have a better understanding of the facts. Also understanding the type of support for your personal development (standardized work, skill development, your leadership style, existing poka-yokes, visual management in the workplace, etc.) is important to understand the bigger picture.

Perhaps the biggest difficulty here is learning to ask more open questions (which require a more elaborate answer) than closed ones (those that can only be answered with yes or no). The biggest obstacle for me is blocking my preconceptions and avoiding the temptation to ask questions that confirm my bias. What works for me is to listen more actively, be interested, and be genuinely curious about what is happening.

"The biggest obstacle for me is blocking my preconceptions and avoiding the temptation to ask questions that confirm my bias."

iii. Show Respect

Show respect for people! Here's another topic that could become an entire post about this. The first sign of respect is already realized by the simple fact that we have gone to the place where the people whose problems we want to help solve are. The second sign of respect comes from our ability to genuinely listen to people and have the curiosity to understand what is happening. The third sign of respect is more subtle and more difficult to understand initially.

It is common to expect whoever is coming to help solve the problem to bring solutions. Especially if this person is some kind of expert or consultant, while it is relatively simple to bring countermeasures to a team, implementing and sustaining them over time is not easy. And, it is not desirable.

I often say that hijacking another person's intelligence by telling them what they have to do is a type of disrespect that we can commit - often without realizing it.

However, if we are aware that we are going to help someone, we also need to commit to respecting people by stimulating critical thinking, creativity, and ingenuity in the search for countermeasures.

They say we should teach how to fish and not give fish to people, right? This is the third sign of respect for people. Help them discover that they are intelligent and capable of solving problems for themselves. Sometimes all we need to do is help them discover how to use the resources (knowledge, tools, people) they already have at their disposal.

And last, but not least, praise them for their efforts.

"There are four signs for respect for people: (i) go and see; (ii) ask why; (iii) be there to enable critical thinking, creativity, and ingenuity in people; (iv) praise them for their efforts".

2. The product development environment

The famous genba of product development is the home of the invisible. In our modern engineering offices - in times of digital transformation - bits and bytes have been replacing ink and cellulose at high speed over the last 30 years.

Of course, the environment is grateful for that and it is also undeniable that the difficulty in seeing the flows of decision-making and knowledge generated is increasing. Many IT solution providers seek to make the artifacts of the knowledge environment visible. Still, a comprehensive solution is far from becoming a reality.

So let's assume a premise: In a modern product development environment, people and their leaders have difficulty seeing both value addition and waste in real time. And the use of technology is limited and not enough to make it as visible as in a manufacturing environment.

"In a modern product development environment, people and their leaders have difficulty seeing both value addition and waste in real time. And the use of technology is limited and not enough to make it as visible as in a manufacturing environment."

If the premise is true, then we have an interesting and challenging situation, to say the least.

Interesting because this would require that a leader in this environment would need to be close to their team (in times of an even more challenging hybrid or fully virtual world...) so that they could perceive with due agility when problems arise and work with their team promptly.

Challenging because if we cannot see adequately, then an environment of mutual trust between leader and followers needs to be established. The work environment must be psychologically safe in such a way that everyone understands that we will only be tough with problems. People deserve respect. In this way, it is possible to develop a creative, collaborative, and innovative environment.

3. The Art

None of what I said is exact science, right? The experience for each of you may have been very different. I'm curious to know what other similar or opposite situations you have experienced. If you want to share it here I would love to exchange ideas with you.

What I can say is that I'm far from doing everything I said above correctly. Look, I've been applying and learning for about 17 years. With each mistake a new learning. That's the art. Have the discipline not to give up. From yourself and the people, we want to help. I wish you success on your journey. And if you want to exchange ideas with someone about this, you just found it.