We went to Costco last weekend and there was a demonstration for Blendtec Blender – you know, those Blendtec “Will it Blend” viral videos on YouTube with that white-coat crazy scientist Blendtec founder blending everything from brooms to the iPhone.

As a side-note: I met the founder and CEO of Blendtec, Tom Dickson, about 12 months ago – yeah, he’s the white-coat guy that blends everything. He’s really cool and very friendly. Well, about a year later I finally bought one. Here’s a picture of me and the founder:

I have to say that I was very, very impressed with the demonstration. Well, after a few minutes of watching the demonstration, we bought one.

At the demonstration, he made soup – and, get this: the friction of the blade made the soup piping hot! Pretty amazing. The guy demonstrating Blendtec made a bunch of other stuff also that was good.

But here’s the business lesson: during the Blendtec presentation, this is what the presenter said:

Blendtec was designed to be higher than the standard kitchen cupboard so that the customer won’t be able to put it away. The customer has to keep Blendtec on the kitchen counter because our field studies have shown that if the Blendtec Blender is out in the open, it will be used more.

Needless to say, I was impressed by this. In his explanation, he showed an application of Genchi Genbutsu – through their field studies and studying how customers used the Blendtec Blender in their own homes; and also Visual Management, by explaining that if the Blendtec Blender is out in the open, customers will use it more than if the Blendtec Blender was hidden in the kitchen cupboard.

Their manufacturing facility is close to where I live – I’d love to tour their plant someday.

Well, I’m glad we got a Blendtec Blender. I’m looking forward to trying new recipes with this super, duper Blendtec Blender.

Here’s a video of Blendtec eating up the iPhone 4.

At work, before you do anything else, go see your customer (internal or external), go see your team or staff – see how they are doing, go see and spend time where the work is done.

Guess who benefits the most when you do this? That’s right, you. By practicing “go and see” (genchi genbutsu) at “the place where value is added” (gemba), you learn empathy, you demonstrate trust and care, and you become informed, which helps your judgment as a leader.

Most, or some of us, who find home in an office or a cube and also on the factory floor or some other hands-on setting, are tempted to check email or voice mail when we first get to work. Fight the temptation – before checking your email or checking your voice mail, Go to the Gemba.

For you, this might mean:

1. If you’re doctor, go see your patients first.
2. If you’re a consultant, go see your clients first.
3. If you’re a manager in a factory, go see the people at the factory floor first.
4. If you’re an emergency room nurse, go see the folks in the emergency room first.
5. If you’re an executive, go see your staff or team members first.
6. If you’re like the rest of us and, just plain normal and nothing special, think about your customer – probably not the end customer, but most likely your downstream customer. Are you meeting their needs? Quit playing Farmville, Mafia Wars, or Frontierville – get up and talk to your internal, downstream customer – are you meeting their needs?
7. If you’re a customer service agent, go and see your co-workers and see what the customer’s are calling about. What’s the current pulse of the customer?
8. If you’re a marketer, go and see how your team is doing; how are your products and services doing? are they meeting the needs of your customers?

Here’s the point:

Before you get too comfortable in that ergonomic chair, dual monitor screens, spend time where the value is added. That usually means spending time where the work is truly done and with the people who are doing it. And, that usually doesn’t mean, in your cube or office.

Most view innovation a big bang type of exercise – or an “aha” moment that came out of nowhere. Indeed, cogito ergo sum – an invention akin to “out nothing, something”. A look back in history will tell us that this notion is completely false.

In fact, looking at the components of the iPhone, you’ll see that the apple iphone components were not invented or created from nothing – they’re in fact plain vanilla components used for other devices:

1. Samsung: The Singapore facility manufactures CPU and Video processing chips.
2. Infineon: The Singapore facility manufactures Baseband Communications hardware.
3. Primax Electronics: The Taiwan facility manufactures Digital Camera Modules.
4. Foxconn International: The Taiwan facility manufactures internal circuitry.
5. Entery Industrial: The Taiwan facility manufactures connectors.
6. Cambridge Silicon: The Taiwan facility manufactures bluetooth chipsets.
7. Umicron Technology: The Taiwan facility manufactures printed circuit boards.
8. Catcher Technology: The Taiwan facility manufactures stainless metal casings.
9. Broadcomm: The U.S. based facility builds touch screen controllers.
10. Marvell: The U.S. based facility builds 802.11 specific parts.

The Apple Shenzhen, China facility assembles the hardware, holds inventory, and handles the pick, pack, and ship steps of the fulfillment process.

But, this type of thinking breeds another type of thinking that I’d like to address: Solutions in Search of a Problem

Solution in Search of a Problem

In Lean Thinking, it’s clear that we must first understand the problem, it’s root causes, and then addressing each root cause appropriately with simple, effective countermeasures. But, this works effectively well when the symptoms are known and there is a problem that has been articulated.

But, what if the problem isn’t articulated? What if there is a problem, but it’s just difficult to put words to it.  Or, what if there is a problem, but people don’t even know it’s a problem.

We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know

Take, for example, the Proctor & Gamble Swiffer mop vacuum. In that situation, a cross-functional team of IDEO and P&G team members observed stay-at-home moms actually mopping their floors. What they observed was fascinating:

They were spending more time cleaning their mops than cleaning the floor

This observation led to the invention of the Swiffer Mop.

Here was clearly a situation where

there was a problem – but, people didn’t know it was a problem.

The Swiffer example is a situation where a solution was created to solve an unarticulated problem. This is clearly different from creating a solution when there is no problem to be solved.

In Lean Thinking, the approach that IDEO took is what is practiced as Genchi Genbutsu. It’s principles come from the science of ethnography.

A Wants Versus Needs Matrix

A wants-needs matrix to make your decisions is sometimes not helpful – especially since we know that some needs we don’t even know.  For example,

Consciously, I might say I don’t need an iPad. But, after using one for several days, perhaps I couldn’t imagine my life without one.

Semi-Conclusion

Most true innovations are innovative because they solve a problem. The nature of those problems are what get complicated because there are some problems that we don’t even recognize are problems yet.

Be Done Now

The practice of “go and see” is critical. It’s an application of Ethnography and allows us to observe, empathize, and see what others may not see or recognize. Being able to see what others don’t see leads to innovation and in exposing unrecognized problems and solutions.

I write that title with tongue-in-cheek. But, in some cases, corporate leaders act as if employees are inmates and being seen with and talking with them is not good. This idea runs completely counter to the principle and practice of Genchi Genbutsu.

We finalized the adoption of our baby girl recently. Our 9th child – yes – I don’t blame you for freaking out. When I was younger, I didn’t think I’d be the father of a almost two basketball teams, but I’m grateful. And, adoption has been a blessing.

corporate leaders act as if employees are inmates and being seen with and talking with them is not good. This idea runs completely counter to the principle and practice of Genchi Genbutsu

Anyway – while at the courhouse, I took this picture, which I find so appropriate for this series of articles on Genchi Genbutsu. As a reminder, below are what I find to be the 4 practical reasons and purpose of the management practice and principle of Genchi Genbutsu (Go and See):

1. Genchi Genbutsu develops your judgment: “Go and See” helps you make better decisions.
2. Genchi Genbutsu helps you build agreement and consensus: “Go and See” helps you form agreement, get people on the “same page”, and agree on the problem.
3. Genchi Genbutsu helps you develop empathy: “Go and See” helps you link high-level thinking with on-the-ground implementation; it helps you “feel with” the people, which then helps you make better decisions and test hypothesis quicker.
4. Genchi Genbutsu helps you develop other people: “Go and See” helps you empower others by stretching them, by teaching them, by helping them with practical application of theory.

The final aspect of Genchi Genbutsu I’d like to discuss is how it helps us accomplish the following:

• Genchi Genbutsu helps us to develop other people.

Involving people in understanding the problem and at arriving at solutions is a powerful countermeasure to resistance; it is disarming; it is a wonderful way to teach others, to stretch them, and to help others grow, learn, and develop personally and professionally.

By practicing “go and see” and employing socratic methods rather than telling others an answer, we help them to think through problems:

1. How can we make this better?
2. If a customer were here, what would he have us do?
3. If a customer were here, what would she have us stop doing?
4. Is there a better way to build this product?

These deceptively simple questions, when asked in the right spirit, could fundamentally transform a company, improve the customer experience, and help improve other aspects of the organization.

Genchi Genbutsu, “Go and See”, is a management practice of going to the actual place where the phenomena is happening. But is more than that: it is involving the people there by asking the right questions, in the right spirit, with the goal of involving others in the understanding of the problem and in the development of the solution(s).

And, when others are involved in this manner, they are growing, learning, feel part of something, and developing.