My Issues with CNBC’s “Undercover Boss”

There’s a pattern with company leaders who go on “Undercover Boss”, and it’s a disturbing condition we see too often in industry. Why are they willing to go in disguise to learn about their own company? It’s because they’re so far removed from reality, and the boardroom is not the Gemba. Gemba means “the actual place”: it’s where the truth is. I use the term Gemba no matter what form the it takes with the Boss’s company: manufacturing, service, administrative, etc. 

Industry leaders who go on Undercover Boss tend to not truly know their own company beyond numbers on reports. They don’t understand or know their people, and are completely ignorant of the current processes in use. They are removed from what is actually happening and rely on reports instead of seeing it for themselves.  

The show is designed to tug at the heart, and almost every person the Boss works with has a personal struggle story. But the usual “reality show” editing aspect is not the point of my commentary, because we all have our personal struggles and hardships. My point is the Leadership being so disassociated from their own company’s reality that it takes a camera crew & a week of disguises for them to finally understand what their company is all about. 

It’s the people, and it’s always been the people. Processes and product are inputs that will not work without the valued and empowered employee.

Why do they have to go in disguise? Because they don’t have a relationship or understanding with employees where the employees feel their concerns can be heard or will be listened to. Those concerns are exactly what a Lean Culture cures. The issues the associates express, and the processes they’re frustrated with are all opportunities for continuous improvement. 

When I tour a company for the first time, there are several things I look for, such as: How well does the site leader know the processes and the individual operators working them? Does he/she know them by name, and is the operator comfortable around them? What is the condition of the employee break room, what is the condition of the employee bathrooms? All will tell me if they value their employees or not. Now, while these are not prerequisites for process improvement, they do tell me a lot about the potential success of a Lean transition and how easy it will be.

When employees are trained properly in Lean Thinking, and are truly empowered to make the right changes, the impact to the bottom line is exponential. For example, one current client has made a $60K investment in consulting and downtime/materials costs over a 6-month period. This investment has turned into an extra $57K per week in increased revenue. The great thing about Lean Thinking is that it more than pays for itself. 

If the Undercover Boss candidates ever considered Lean Thinking in their companies, they could not only save money, but solve the very issues that their employees deal with on a daily basis. 

It’s sad to see the leader of a company be so far removed from the Gemba they have to go undercover to discover how wonderful their people really are. These leaders are continually astounded with how much dedication their workers have for the inferior work environments leadership provided.

One quote from a Boss at the end of a show was “Never lose touch with the guy who’s making you money.” Not bad; but train and empower them as well. Develop a Lean Culture and the payoff will be exponential.

Instead of the cameras and disguises, maybe these Bosses could just use Lean Thinking to release the potential of the workforce and reward everyone at the same time, instead of just the ones who made the cut for the show.

#leanthinking #Consulting #LeanJourney #leadership

 #continuousImprovement #commitment