Taiichi Ohno was the person who wrote “The Toyota Production System”. This book was the documentation of years of effort in analysis and development of the basic principles of Lean. He, of course, had applied those principles to manufacturing at Toyota. We abbreviate the Toyota Production System as TPS.
As Toyota grew, Ohno needed to train new people in TPS. One of the techniques he developed was called “standing in a circle”. This exercise was used by Ohno to train new members. This is part of the philosophy of “Actuals” which means go and see at the actual workers doing actual work at the actual place of work. No “desk studies”! The technique involves standing in a circle drawn on the floor and observing the activity all around. While in the circle, the person/student continuously asks the question, “Why?” Many times the student will have to go through the 5 Why’s (another post) to completely understand what is going on. The intent is to observe and understand. Analysis can come later.
If something has been done the same way for the last 1 or 2 or 20 years, don’t just accept it. Is it really the most efficient way? Is there any waste to eliminate? People often stand for 8 hours or more before they are satisfied that they have seriously understood the process(es) and seen the waste. During the circle exercise it may be best to simply acknowledge that the waste exists, without the need to explain it or try to figure out how to “fix” it. If the standing in a circle exercise is taken seriously, the amount of waste observed can be overwhelming. A common reaction is to immediately seek out solutions to remedy the situation. However, a thorough understanding of the situation is necessary prior to beginning corrective action. Standing in a circle for many hours will allow that thorough understanding.
I have used standing in a circle to great effect in the practices I’ve helped. When I’ve presented the results, the doctors have been amazed. Typically there is some amount of disbelief at the amount of waste in labor, facilities, and time. Once comprehension is achieved, improvements can be formulated, discussed, evaluated and implemented.