ABSTRACT
The previous sessions have given the leaders the opportunity to investigate basic aspects of leading in a Lean environment. The awareness of the principles, understanding the effect of habits and foremost the step towards taking control of their own time usage give leaders the foundations for further steps. This workshop is an extremely important one: Doing a gemba walk is a skill that all Lean IT leaders need to master. One of the greatest showcases for gemba walks is the TV program, Undercover Boss. This program is popular in all cultures, evidenced by the fact that it has been syndicated in sixteen countries with five others working on their own versions, and many other countries showing other countries’ versions. This program features the owner, CEO or senior managers of an organization joining their own organization as an entry-level employee. The accompanying camera crew is explained by the fact that the new employee is taking part in a documentary. Based on the success and broad adoption of the format, we can conclude that people love to see leaders confronted with the reality of their own organizations. The leaders seem to enjoy it as well, since they see the hard reality of their organizations. They always seem grateful for the direct feedback they get, even though it essentially uncovers their own failures as leaders. The end of every episode begs the question: Why did it take a TV show for you [senior leader] to go to the gemba? If going to the gemba is so effective and provides so much insight, why is it not done everywhere, all the time? The point, of course, is that if people see the “boss” they will act in a different way. Taking a deeper look at gemba walks can help to understand how they can be done without having to don a disguise every time.
