In my early years as an engineer, I happened to work under an Engineering Manager that was obsessed with one rule: ‘get on the Gemba.’ He’d visited Japan early in his own career and this concept of the Gemba had rubbed off him. The Gemba is the Japanese version for ‘getting on ground, or at the point where the action is happening.’
It is a rule I learned and took to heart. As I grew in my career, it came in handy, learning to do the Gemba walks. It meant going to the Factory line, visiting those project sites thrice a day. And you walked, interacted with the people on the ground and joined in what they did. It was also a moment to coach, to listen and to observe.
I came to realize that many people as they grew in their career, they would get detached from the reality on the ground. What tended to happen is that information got distorted as it climbed the managerial hierarchy. I read a quote on X that captured this well; “In too many organizations, the people at the top have all the authority and none of the information, while the people on the front line have all the information and none of the authority.” This scenario held true so many times.
Although Ortega Group is largely dedicated to strategic thinking, we believe a great part of strategy is anchored in having an accurate view of the reality. The General should have near perfect information of the battle front.
Recently, I visited the Chairman of the Mandela Group, and I noticed this same concept of the Gemba Walk. He’d arrived at this same truth in his own way. That it mattered to visit the floor, to have a natural curiosity, to learn from the ground.
There are many variations to this concept such as ‘Management by Walking Around’ aka ‘MBWA’, some prefer to simply call them Walk abouts. It is basically to encourage managers to get off their desk, to get out of the office and go on the ground. It not only makes you a better leader, but it gives you better strategic eyes when you return to the boardroom to make those decisions.