“How would you lead your organization without an office?” is the question I asked the president of an insurance company I coached. Most of the information necessary to make decisions is available in real-time, somewhere on the floor, where it is first collected or produced. Translating this information into Key Process Indicators (KPIs) and creating new leadership routines (Leader Standard Work) had to be done. The leadership team defined 2 routes with about 12 stops per route. After a few months of change management, and experimentation, each stop had visually managed daily KPIs. The leadership team walked each route once a week and learned from the KPI boards the performance of each process with the problems to solve, supported the team in problem-solving, and identified systemic issues the leadership team alone needed to solve.
The president maintained his office but this “Leading from Gemba” approach allowed the leadership to get closer to reality. It engaged them to “SEE as a Team, THINK as a team, and DECIDE as a TEAM.”
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