Sometimes every Lean journey
needs fresh eyes.

Independent advice from Doug Rickarby

40+ years of practical Toyota and Lean experience.

If you’ve been on a Lean journey for some time, you will have made progress. You will also have encountered frustrations.

Progress can stall. Good practices can become routines. Activity doesn’t always mean improvement. And sometimes being close to the journey makes it difficult to see what’s getting in the way.

That’s where I can help.

I work with organisations already on their Lean journey, providing independent Lean advice on where they are, what might be holding them back and where to focus next.

I don’t run Lean transformations.

I bring fresh eyes, challenge the thinking and help find practical ways forward.

Go to the Gemba

The place where value is added
and the truth revealed.

You can’t properly understand an organisation from reports and presentations.

I prefer to go to the Gemba — walk the floor, see the work, talk with the people doing it and understand what’s really happening.

Experience helps you notice things that aren’t always obvious from inside the organisation.

“What aren’t we seeing?”

Sometimes that’s the most useful question you can ask.

Fresh eyes

A fresh look at your Lean journey.

There is no standard Gemba Guides program.

I might spend a day walking your Gemba, talk with your leaders and give you my view of what I see.

We might look at why progress has stalled, whether your continuous improvement activities are addressing the right problems, or what could take the organisation to the next level of operational excellence.

Or you may simply want an experienced independent view before deciding what to do next.

The aim is simple: identify the few things that could make the biggest difference.

That might mean:

identifying blind spots or barriers to progress
challenging the current strategy or thinking
reviewing how Lean is actually working at the Gemba
helping determine where to focus next
providing occasional coaching or advice to a senior leader or internal Lean team.

Engagements don’t need to be large. Sometimes a day at the Gemba and an open discussion is enough.

About

Gemba Guides today

I established Gemba Guides after finishing my Toyota career in 2017. For several years we operated as a broader Lean consulting practice, with a team of experienced people supporting organisations on their Lean journeys.

I’ve now chosen to do things differently. Gemba Guides is just me.

I work on a limited basis with organisations that interest me, where there is a genuine desire to improve and where I believe my experience can make a difference.

I’m not looking to run major transformation programs.

I want to help good organisations see things they may not be seeing for themselves.

How I work

First, I listen.
Then I go and look.
Then I’ll give you my view.

I want to understand what you’re trying to achieve, how the work is actually being done and where the difficulties are. I’ll tell you what I see, what I think matters and where I’d focus next.

What you do with that advice remains your decision.

That’s important. My aim isn’t to create dependency on Gemba Guides. It’s to help your organisation become better at improving itself.

Experience

Doug Rickarby

More than 40 years of practical Toyota and Lean experience.

I’m a Manufacturing Engineer by training and spent more than 40 years with Australian Motor Industries and Toyota Australia. My career took me well beyond manufacturing, with roles across Training & Development, Supplier Development, Purchasing, Supply Chain, Corporate Planning and senior management.

In the late 1980s I established Toyota Australia’s Supplier Development program, working with Australian suppliers to apply Toyota principles in very different businesses. That experience taught me something I’ve carried throughout my career:

Lean principles travel well.
Toyota solutions don’t necessarily.

Every organisation has different people, history, culture and challenges. The principles may be transferable, but the solution has to fit the organisation.

In my final Toyota role I led approximately 2,000 manufacturing employees through the transition to the end of Australian production in 2017, while maintaining high levels of quality and operational performance.

Since leaving Toyota, I’ve worked through Gemba Guides with organisations across a range of industries. I’ve seen Lean from many different perspectives — and I’ve seen what helps organisations progress and what gets in their way.

That’s the experience I now bring to Gemba Guides.

Sometimes every Lean journeyneeds fresh eyes.

The place where value is addedand the truth revealed.