"No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking." - Voltaire

We've discussed the concept of dedicated thinking spaces before, but there is a recent revival of this concept within the Lean/Six Sigma Community that is also worth exploring for the innovator and creative thinker...the Obeya Room.  See...I'm not a hardcore LSS hater. 

Obeya in Japanese means simply “big room.”  The purpose is to ensure project success and shorten the plan-do-check-act cycle.  Similar in concept to traditional “war rooms,” an Obeya Room contains highly visual charts and graphs depicting program timing, milestones and progress to date and countermeasures to existing timing or technical problems. 

The concept was put into action within Toyota and it has become a major project management tool, used especially in product development, to enhance effective and timely communication. Project Managers, Project Coordinators, Creativity/Innovation Consultants and Lean Consultants all have desks in the Obeya Room.  Along appropriate points on the program timeline, other key roles and resources will also be co-located with the Obeya Room.

For those of you attending the PDMA International Conference in September at Disney's Contemporary Resort, you'll be able to see a full-scale working Obeya Room up close and personal.

If you've been on the fence about heading to the PDMA International Conference, or just haven't gotten around to making registration arrangements, would a 20% discount help your decision making process?  Well, you're in luck!!!  As a Media Partner for the 2008 PDMA International Conference, we are proud to offer a 20% discount by using the following priority code (MP08IC) when registering for the conference.

See you in the Obeya Room!