Unlocking Organizational Success with Obeya: Collaboration Over Conflict

Words matter to me. So having spent the past few months immersed in the research, writing, teaching, and practical application of Obeya, the seemingly ubiquitous comparison to a "war room" got me thinking:

Is this an acceptable let alone appropriate metaphor?

Now military-influenced ideas and verbiage are hardly new to the world of business, and they're leveraged in the civilian sector for myriad reasons. From an historical perspective, many management theories and practices were developed or influenced by former service members, especially following WWII. A couple of cases in point for my fellow history enthusiasts:

• Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara became president of both Ford Motor Company as well as the World Bank, applying statistical control methods he learned in the military to business operations.
• Founder of FedEx Fred Smith drew upon his Marine Corps experience to develop their hub-and-spoke logistics systems.
• Bill Marriott - while not a veteran himself - credits his father’s service in the Navy for many of the management practices employed in his hotels.

To be sure, parallels between the military and the business world run deep. With just a cursory look it’s immediately apparent how both realms share some of their most fundamental elements, with strategic thinking, competition, hierarchical structures, leadership imperatives, and resource allocation challenges to name just a few.

My own exposure to the military is the reason we at Modus conclude every client engagement with an “After Action Review.” This structured debrief was introduced by the Army in the 1970s as a means to improve combat readiness and operational effectiveness through the systematic analysis of training exercises and missions. Truth be told, I've yet to find another form factor to capture and convey organizational learnings and an action plan for improvement as well as the AAR.

Yet I reiterate, as someone whose, well, "modus" at both Modus Cooperandi and Modus Institute is to humanize work, are combative military terms like "war room" an acceptable let alone an appropriate metaphor for civilian contexts and - more specifically - even remotely analogous to collaborative environments like an Obeya?

Unlike the confrontational connotation of a war room, Obeya emphasizes collaboration, visual management, and holistic problem-solving. The intent is not to solve crises in isolation but to cultivate a proactive, transparent, and continuous improvement culture. While war rooms often respond to urgent needs, an Obeya fosters long-term planning and sustainable progress.

To better understand the distinctions between the two approaches and evaluate their appropriateness in business contexts, let’s examine them side by side in several key dimensions:

As this comparison reveals, the war room and Obeya are not merely different tools or environments, but likewise reflect fundamentally different mindsets.?

The war room, with its crisis-driven, top-down approach is suited for high-stakes, immediate problem-solving. It thrives in situations where urgency outweighs collaboration, and rapid decision-making is critical for success and even survival.

In contrast, the Obeya embodies a shift in mindset, away from the high-stakes, command-driven approach of the war room and instead towards a culture of agency, adaptability, and shared ownership. In an environment where agility and innovation are key to an organization’s long-term success, the Obeya emphasizes foresight over firefighting, transforming reactive problem-solving into proactive continuous improvement. It encourages collaboration across teams and functions, driving not just quick fixes but sustainable solutions that evolve with the organization.?

Because at the end of the day the goal of the war room is survival - to make it through the crisis art hand. But in an organization that prioritizes thriving over simply surviving, what is required is a system that fosters collaboration, innovation, and continuous growth - principles at the very heart of?Obeya.

New to the concept of Obeya or interested in going deeper? Check out my and Jim Benson 's new online class Mastering Obeya & Humane Visual Management, or head over to the Netherlands in November for our talk at the Obeya Summit, hosted by our friends at Obeya Association .?

#lean #TPS #agile #obeya #visualmanagement #humanemanagement #LAVM