The Gemba
During my 33 years at Honda, I learned a Japanese word that still shapes how I approach problems today:
Gemba.
It means "the actual place."
At Honda, we were taught that if you really want to understand a problem, you go to the spot where it's happening. You listen to the people experiencing it. They are the experts. You see the situation for yourself.
One of the most powerful examples of Gemba I ever witnessed didn't happen on a factory floor.
During the Takata airbag crisis, one of the Honda leaders I most admired, my friend Rick Schostek, traveled to Washington to testify before Congress. Also testifying that day was Stephanie Erdman, a young woman who had been seriously injured when the airbag in her Honda ruptured. Something designed to save her life had instead seriously injured her.
That morning, before their testimony, Rick and Stephanie met privately. They sat face-to-face across a small conference table.
Rick was there to do two things:
Apologize. And ask for her help.
They could easily have viewed each other as being on opposite sides.
Instead, they listened.
Eventually, they joined forces, advocating together for ways to find owners of affected vehicles and get those dangerous airbags replaced before someone else was hurt.
Stephanie was the expert.
He told me that meeting Stephanie, seeing the injuries she had suffered, and hearing her story firsthand was emotional. It humbled him. It grounded him. It made everything real.
That meeting was the Gemba.
Rick already understood the gravity of the problem. But meeting someone who had actually lived it made it real in a way no report or meeting ever could.
Watching him that day reinforced something Honda had taught me for years, and something I aspire to practice at the Ohio Statehouse.
When we're considering legislation, I want to understand an issue through the experiences of those most affected. I want to hear from the teacher in the classroom, the business owner trying to make payroll, the first responder doing the work, the family living with the consequences of a government decision gone wrong, or the pedestrian harmed in a traffic accident.
Sometimes it is uncomfortable to hear the truth, especially from someone who has been hurt. But we have to be willing to listen, face uncomfortable realities, and care enough to learn from them.
Find the Gemba. Understand the actual situation. Then work together on the solution.
It's another lesson from Honda that continues to shape how I serve.
Thank you for letting me share a little more of my journey with you.
Mark Sigrist
State Representative
Ohio House District 10
MarkSigrist.com
