Guest Posting...

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 The term yokoten refers to the sharing of best practices and learning laterally throughout an organization.  Could you imagine if the news did not report anything they learned?  What if the radio never shared insights based on experience and what if the internet was controlled by one brain?  Well we probably would not know about a lot of things.  
   While the term yokoten is mostly associated with "horizontal deployment"  it is a much broader sharing than just strategically. The term can also be interpreted in a technical, methodical and philosophical way.  When the principle of yokoten is effectively embraced by many, yokoten can transform a process, organization, online community and the world.  Let's use 5S as a simplified example.  It is quite common for areas of an organization to take a "liking"  to 5S, at least in the early stages.  As teams, departments and employees mimic and improve upon the original 5S (first performed internally) they not only gain the same benefits, but they gather new and innovative ways of improving the way the 5S system is executed.  Now let's imagine some areas of an organization decided that they were not going to wait for others to notice the successful implementation of their 5S and so, like good students of an art, they shared what they did with other areas of the organization.  Knowledge would then spread far and wide... Fast.  
  Of course we all want the positive benefits of improved performance but yokoten also contributes to a positive open culture.  Here are a few ways you can begin using the powerful principle of yokoten in your organization:

• Create a wall of excellence - Design a wall where all the latest improvements and successful projects can be shared.  Place the wall in an area where everyone can see it.
• Town hall - Hold a standard town hall after each improvement event.  A town hall can give the improvement team an opportunity to share their success with others.  This is also a great time to reward and recognize, which can only add to the improvement excitement.
• Create an online community -  Developing an online community or intranet, is a great way for team members and employees to interact and allow others to see what is going on.  Teams can post their latest improvements on a board, share ideas and even "like", "poke", or "comment" on others postings.  Check out our LITTLE community where you can share knowledge, submit topics and comment on others on speak to the gemba.  The community is just getting started so please feel free to invite your friends to the party.

  Let's not forget that while empowering our organizations is a great place to start the more we all share what we know, the more we can influence the market and extended network.  Please feel free to submit a post on listen to the gemba and share your knowledge with the community.
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