What is happening to my Lean project?

I’ve been through situations where the outcome of a Lean project was nowhere near expected. I got very frustrated.

But why? Where did I go wrong? Why did this happen if I followed SENSEI's directions? These were the questions I asked myself.

These are the moments on which the best thing to do is to use the most powerful tools (in my opinion) from Lean Management: GENCHI GENBUTSU and 5 Whys, then of course, go back in the field.

 It's no use having thoughtful moments in the meeting room. The best thing to do is to go out and understand the reality of the facts through the 5 Whys and see what you didn't see the first time. (My SENSEI said to me: GET YOURSELF  OFF THE CHAIR!)

 GENCHI GENBUTSU means going to the place where the problem is, seeing reality, taking the part in hand. Taiichi Ohno did this a lot with his young engineers. He drawed a circle on the floor and ordered the young engineers to stand there until he was able to see how the problem was occurring.

Then apply 5 Whys thoroughly, until you understand the mechanism a problem occurs - that is, until you reach the root cause of the problem. There is a technique for asking the 5 questions, and it becomes easy after one click. Always try to ask 5 questions which are relevants to the situation you are facing right in front of you.

 Haven't seen it yet? Use the third most powerful tool in Lean: Teamwork. Consult your colleagues, the SENSEIs of everyday life. They are your allies, and they will be there for you to help them solve their problem. Apply the 5 whys of facts you did not understand until you find the root cause of the problem.

Ready! Clarified the (real) root cause, I'm sure you’ll achieve the result you had planned. It worked very well to me. Good luck!