Gemba

Biological Parallel

Field biologists distinguish between laboratory data and gemba—observing organisms in their actual environment where variables aren't controlled. Jane Goodall discovered chimpanzee tool use and warfare only by going to the gemba (Gombe Stream), not the zoo. Ethology emerged when researchers stopped studying animals in labs and watched them hunt, mate, and compete in nature. Gemba mirrors biology's empirical principle: the real process reveals truths that models, theories, and second-hand reports cannot capture.