Genchi Gembatsu - Go Out and Talk to Customers

Genchi Gembatsu - Go Out and Talk to Customers

Genchi Gembatsu is one of the core principles of Lean Manufacturing and is a Japanese term used at Toyota, meaning "go out and see for yourself". In other words, business decisions should always be based on firsthand knowledge (from customers). It is the idea that to really understand any part of any business problem, you need to go and see for yourself firsthand. You should never take anything for granted or rely solely on reports from others.

According to Ries in "The Lean Startup" it is also very important for entrepreneurs and startups to test their early vision, strategy and the key assumptions behind it by talking to and getting feedback from (potential) customers. You can use these customer interactions to sketch / draft a target customer profile to build the first, minimum viable product and to guide future product development decisions.
After you have built the first Minimum Viable Product, go and talk to customers yourself again and adjust the product and the profile.
So Genchi Gembatsu!

		Comments Sort by date Sort by rating Rating
		4 Gandhi Heryanto Management Consultant, Indonesia
	Continuous Genchi Gembatsu and Sustainable Innovation Genchi Gembatsu is an Idea worth adapting and applying before plunging to solve any problem. It ther... Sign up

		2 Anonymous
	Definition Firsthand Knowledge Firsthand knowledge refers to something which a person actually saw or heard, as distinguished from ... Sign up

		2 Anonymous
	3 Gs of Kaizen Gembutsi is part of the 3 Gs of Kaizen: Gemba - "The Actual Place". This is where work takes pl... Sign up

		1 Melchiorre Calabrese Business Consultant, Italy
	Using a Consultant in Genchi Gembatsu I agree about the benefits of applying "Genchi Genbatsu" and have firsthand experienced it in the co... Sign up

		1 aloke mookherjea Director, India
	Meeting and Communicating with the Customer This of course is right, no one can argue about that. However, one important thing is not just go an... Sign up

		1 ibrahim yusuf Lecturer, Tanzania
	Start Up Companies For these companies to prosper they need an innovative financial model. This model will help these s... Sign up

		1 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Genchi Gembatsu to Verify the Business Model @Ibrahim yusuf: I think you meant to say that start-ups should definitely use Genchi Gembatsu to ver... Sign up