The Gemba - what it is and why leaders should care

A rant over on "The Corporate Cynic" got me thinking about gemba.  Jerome writes that the whole concept seems to be a "goofy" gimmick that would just result in more paperwork.

He could not have been more wrong.

Gemba is a Japanese word that means the "actual place."  Practitioners of lean manufacturing/lean service talk about the importance of going to the gemba in order to see for yourself what really happens.  Going to the gemba is a core principle of the Toyota Way, and should be a core tool that every leader uses.