Gemba Principle

Go to the source to see the real work and surface true problems.

"Go see, ask why, show respect."

Fujio Cho
Gemba Principle

Originally from the Toyota Production System, Gemba means "the actual place" - the site where work is truly happening and value is created. In Agile settings, this could be a team workspace, a code repository, or even a customer service queue. The idea is simple: go to the source to see the reality of the work. This principle is practiced through Gemba walks, where leaders, Product Owners, or coaches observe the flow of work firsthand. The goal is not to audit or micromanage, but to learn, understand constraints, and support improvement from the ground up. Gemba reinforces Agile values by closing the gap between those doing the work and those making decisions about it.

Impact on Agile Teams & Organizations

When management does not engage in Gemba practices around large-scale events like PI Planning, the result is often a fragmented planning process. Teams are left to coordinate complex workstreams on their own, while leaders remain detached from the friction happening in real time. Gemba helps reveal these disconnections and turns observation into actionable alignment.

  1. Exposes Systemic Misalignment:
    • Leadership sees how unclear priorities affect backlog quality and team morale.
  2. Reveals Gaps in Readiness:
    • Lack of ART-level coordination surfaces through overlapping work and mismanaged dependencies.
  3. Encourages Shared Ownership:
    • Observing planning in practice promotes responsibility beyond facilitation logistics.
  4. Fosters real-time learning:
    • Leaders can witness which planning patterns help or hinder teams.

Scenario

An organization conducts PI Planning events every quarter, but the results are inconsistent. Teams enter the sessions prepared, yet come away misaligned. Over the following Sprints:

  • Features are built in isolation with duplicated effort.
  • Key dependencies are not raised until late in the PI.
  • Teams interpret business priorities differently.

From the outside, it appears the teams "didn't collaborate enough," but a Gemba walk during the PI Planning event tells a different story. Agile leaders observe that:

  • Senior stakeholders attend but don't align with one another before planning.
  • Teams are expected to self-organize without support from an ART-level view.
  • There is no structured space to surface or resolve cross-team issues.

By being present at the source, leaders realize the problem is not a team issue but a coordination issue that leadership owns.

Ways to Mitigate:

To address the misalignment revealed through Gemba observation, leaders can improve ART coordination before, during, and after planning.

  1. Strengthen Pre-PI Planning Readiness:
    • Align top-level business priorities in advance.
    • Review and resolve high-impact dependencies before teams walk in.
  2. Embed Leaders in the Flow:
    • Attend all days of PI Planning, not just the opening and closing.
    • Observe how teams navigate planning, not just what gets committed.
  3. Follow through Post-Event:
    • Conduct Gemba walks during the PI to see how the plan is playing out.
    • Use observations to adjust systems, not just reinforce commitments.
Conclusion:

Gemba is not just a team-level practice. It is a leadership responsibility that becomes essential during large-scale coordination events like PI Planning. When leaders observe the real planning experience, they often see that teams are not failing to collaborate, but are left to operate in a vacuum. Gemba invites leaders to close that vacuum by being present, learning directly from the experience, and improving the system rather than blaming its outputs.

Key Takeaways

  • Gemba means going to the actual place where work is happening.
  • During PI Planning, it reveals alignment gaps leadership cannot see in reports.
  • It shifts accountability for coordination back to ART and portfolio leaders.
  • Observing the event exposes whether planning is collaborative or ceremonial.
  • Effective Gemba walks focus on learning and improvement, not judgment.

Summary

When PI Planning is left entirely to teams without leadership presence or alignment, planning becomes fragile and fragmented. Gemba reintroduces visibility into how planning actually works, not how it is assumed to work. By observing directly, leaders can see that many breakdowns stem from poor coordination, not poor execution. Gemba helps Agile organizations turn ceremonies into real collaboration by reconnecting strategy, delivery, and leadership action.