Going to Gemba

BD has made a big push to translate the principals of kaizen or lean six sigma out of Operations and into the broader organization.? My favorite concept is “going to gemba,” or going to the “real place”. ?We’re encouraged to go where the work happens with our teams to look in real-time at our processes and find solutions.? I do love a visit to a manufacturing facility, but I don’t have any value to add on the shop floor.? For my role in Global Public Health policy, “gemba” means visiting hospitals, health centers, and community programs where our healthcare interventions are delivered.?

Getting out of the office and into the field, or going to gemba, is by far my favorite part of the job.? I spent the first 4 years of my public health career “at gemba”, living and working in the front lines of health in rural India.? I experienced first-hand the delta between the conversations in five-star hotel ballrooms and offices in New Delhi and the delivery of services at the community level.? Our best program innovations came from the ingenuity of community health workers, not polished PowerPoints.?

Getting out of the office and to where the work happens also leads to the best team development.? Some of the best bonding moments I’ve had with co-workers isn’t manufactured team building, but the shared experience of a terrifyingly bumpy car ride, morning walks through a field, or chatting about our lives while stuck in the epic traffic of places like Nairobi or Manila.?

Last week, I had the privilege to go to gemba with our team from BD South Asia.? We braved the 42C (107F) heat to visit our BD Project SANKALP TB program operated in Rewari District, Haryana.? We shadowed community health workers as they conducted door-to-door active case finding for TB in a village and observed the workflow in our mobile TB screening and diagnostic van.? BD’s SANKALP program is already an award-winning approach to TB eradication, so we weren’t there to necessarily find or solve a problem, but in a day on the ground we were able to identify areas for “kaizen”, continuous improvement.? We also came away with shared inside jokes, stories about each other’s families and the deeper trust that comes from seeing each other work first-hand.?

Unfortunately, my current global scope, family situation, and management responsibilities don’t allow me to “live at Gemba” like I used to, but I strive to find as many opportunities as possible to go to where the work happens.? As a global leader I can do this by ensuring our expertise from the countries and regions is represented in strategic discussions.? I can listen and probe during webinars, talks, and 1:1 meetings with customers, NGOs, patient advocates, and service delivery providers working on the ground.? I can be strategic about my travel and ensure that I’m not just in meeting rooms, but also out experiencing the challenges of healthcare delivery. I can communicate to my colleagues on the ground that I’m not interested in seeing only polished programs or ribbon cutting ceremonies, but that I’m along for the journey of developing meaningful partnerships in health system strengthening.?

Would love to hear from my network:? How do you manage to “go to gemba” when your role is physically removed from the delivery of healthcare?