In Kaizen practice, we go to the Gemba to observe what is actually happening where work takes place. I developed the term Inner Gemba to bring that discipline of observation into our experience as leaders.
A meeting has facts you can investigate. It also brings sensations, thoughts and impulses you can notice within yourself. Both can influence what happens next.
Inner and Outer Gemba
Outer Gemba
The work, people and processes in front of you. What happened? Where is the difficulty? What can be observed or checked?
Explore LeaderKaizen ↗Inner Gemba
Your experience as you meet that situation. What do you feel? What story is forming? What are you about to do?
Explore ShinKaizen ↗A familiar meeting
Someone challenges your proposal. Your jaw tightens. The thought appears: “They don’t understand.” You feel an urge to interrupt.
In the Outer Gemba, you can check what the person actually said and examine their evidence. In the Inner Gemba, you can notice the tension, the thought and the urge without treating them as facts about the other person.
You might then ask a useful question before defending your position. This is an example of practice, not a promised result.
Try one moment of observation.
- Body: What changed first?
- Attention: What became harder to see or hear?
- Story: What sentence formed in your mind?
- Urge: What did you immediately want to do?
Take one deliberate breath, then choose the next useful action. Afterwards, reflect on what you noticed and what happened.
Keep your reflections private. A pause offers a chance to notice; it does not guarantee a particular outcome.
Observation before explanation
Inner Gemba is an applied leadership concept. It does not make your first interpretation correct, and it does not let you directly observe what another person thinks. Compare your impressions with facts, feedback and what happens next.
Where the idea comes from
My work connects leadership and Kaizen experience with disciplined awareness practice. Inner Gemba gives this inward observation a clear place in the way we learn to lead.
Read my Inner Gemba article, published 16 August 2026, and the Process Debt interview discussing my work.
Keep practising.
ShinKaizen turns observation into an ongoing practice, using situations from your own work and life.