The Further You Sit From The Work, The More Certain You Become.

It's everywhere.

A CEO tells me exactly what's wrong with the operation, and he hasn't been on the floor in four months. An operator at the machine says: "it's complicated." Because it actually is. Here's what happens:  Distance makes everything look simple.

You're looking at dashboards, not reality.
- Numbers are clean.
- Problems are obvious.
- Solutions are clear.

Then you walk the floor. And suddenly, nothing makes sense.
- The problem you thought was simple? Six variables nobody documented.
- The solution that felt obvious? Breaks three other things.
- The data that looked clean? Misses the entire rework loop.

Last week, a VP told me that their biggest bottleneck complete confidence.  We walked to the floor. Stood there for twenty minutes. The bottleneck wasn't even close. He'd been solving the wrong problem for six months......Excel told him one story. Gemba told him another.

This is why "go and see" isn't about being nice. It's about not being wrong. Proximity doesn't make you feel good. It makes you humble.  You realize how much you don't know.

Distance lets you stay confident. Gemba destroys your certainty. Most leaders avoid it for exactly this reason.

When did you last spend real time at gemba? Not a tour, Not a walkthrough; Standing there, Watching cycles, Asking questions. If it's been more than a week, you're already drifting. Your operators know what's broken.

The real question is: Are you close enough to hear them? Or too far away to care?