Doria’s administration: going to the streets is essential, but it must be done right

The mayor of São Paulo, João Doria, caught everyone's attention by taking an attitude that is unusual for someone holding this kind of office. 

He began his term by going out into the streets, saying that he did so to see the problems, inspect and demand solutions. This is a very different stance from that of typical government leaders who, in general, prefer offices, meeting rooms and press conferences with the media.

“Seeing with your own eyes” is a very modern stance in terms of management. Going out into the streets to see the problems is an idea typically linked to the lean system. In companies that adopt this management model, we call this “going to the gemba”, a Japanese expression meaning “the place where things happen”, where value is created, where the problems that need to be solved are.

In a company, this means that leaders need to go to the gemba daily to see the problems, without filters. It is the first step toward solving them. The big issue is that simply “going” to the gemba is not enough. You do need to go, but with a clear method and objective.

One thing is to go to the gemba appropriately: to see the problems, but looking for their root causes in order to truly reach a definitive solution. To do this, it is necessary to show respect for the people who work in the areas where the problems were identified. To ask them questions, and in the right way, that challenge them to think and understand the causes. To help them find solutions, working with facts and data. And to make this an everyday practice and part of the organization's “culture”.

Something quite different is going to the gemba with bad attitudes: in an authoritarian, imposing or oppressive way. Giving orders, thinking you know everything, that you are the owner of the truth, without respecting people's experience and capability. Or, upon identifying a problem, having the impulse to start looking for culprits, instead of trying to understand what is wrong with the processes.

Thus, whether in a company, a city or any kind of organization, merely going to the gemba, without the right attitude and method, will accomplish nothing.

From the somewhat superficial media reports, it is not yet possible to tell whether the new mayor Doria has been going to the gemba with this more appropriate attitude. Nor do we know yet whether this will truly be an everyday hallmark of his term. Or whether it was just an opening move to generate media buzz at the start of his administration. Only time will tell.

But this leads us to a reflection. Going to the place where the problems are to observe reality with your own eyes and supporting teams so that they solve difficulties with the scientific method is one of the most modern attitudes in terms of management. And one of the essences of the lean system. But it only works if it is done with the right attitude. Otherwise, it can quickly fall into oblivion without bringing results.