Japan

This Ancient Japanese Concept Can Help You Embrace Imperfection

November 24, 2025 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Wabi-Sabi: Ancient Japanese Concept Can Help You Embrace Imperfection The Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi reveals beauty in imperfection, transience, and incompletion. It reflects a deep appreciation for the real and the natural, fostering humility and connection to the world around them.

Centuries of tradition and Zen Buddhism root wabi-sabi, honoring life’s cycles of growth and decay. While society often obsesses over flawless ideals, this philosophy offers a different view: finding allure in what’s irregular and fleeting.

Consider kintsugi, or “golden joinery.” This Japanese art form involves mending broken pottery with gold. Rather than concealing the damage, they deliberately highlight the cracks with precious metal, transforming the object into a potent symbol of resilience and renewal. This appreciation for imperfection extends to their valuing of aged wood, antiques, and handcrafted items, where the wear and tear tell unique stories.

Wabi-sabi encourages acceptance of life’s inherent nature. Each flaw enriches one’s journey and deepens the broader human experience. This perspective frees individuals from chasing impossible perfection, celebrating life as it truly is.

Idea for Impact: Accept your natural flaws and challenge those unrealistic expectations. Embrace the beauty in repair and how things evolve.

Japan’s MUJI Became an Iconic Brand by Refusing to Be One

September 26, 2025 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Minimalism as Rebellion: MUJI's Counterstrike Against Consumer Excess

In the heyday of Japan’s consumer electronics boom, MUJI—short for Mujirushi Ryohin, or “no-brand quality goods”—stepped onto the scene as a quiet revolution. Launched in 1980, it offered a counterstrike against a market bloated with luxury logos and feature-packed excess. Consumers were drowning in labels and needless complexity. MUJI tossed them a lifeline.

Its genius wasn’t invention; it was restraint. MUJI’s philosophy ran on three simple principles: repurpose what others waste, strip out the ornamental, and reject the superfluous. This wasn’t minimalism for aesthetic purity. It was minimalism in service of reason—clarity with purpose, bordering on rebellion.

Take ochiwata, the cotton lint most manufacturers discard during combing. MUJI turns it into dishcloths, a subtle jab at industries obsessed with perfect materials. Or consider “Imperfect Dried Shiitake,” a bold rejection of beauty standards in the produce aisle. These items don’t hide their flaws; they wear them honestly. Even the packaging puts the product before the brand. MUJI doesn’t shout. It invites.

In a market starving for identity, MUJI chose integrity over polish. It slashed costs not to be cheap, but to be real. It isn’t anti-luxury; it’s anti-nonsense.

Idea for Impact: People don’t buy what you make—they buy what it means. MUJI nailed the message: by refusing to be a brand, it became one. A whisper that silenced the noise.

Sony Personified Japan’s Postwar Technological Ascendancy // Summary of Akio Morita’s ‘Made in Japan’

August 12, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Akio Morita’s autobiography, Made in Japan (1987,) offers a captivating narrative of Sony’s remarkable journey to success and sheds light on the mindset of one of the era’s most accomplished businessmen, as well as a vocal advocate for free trade.

As the co-founder and CEO of Sony Corporation alongside Masaru Ibuka, Morita symbolized Japan’s post-war resurgence and economic expansion. Under his guidance, Sony emerged as a symbol of Japan’s industrial prowess, reshaping the perception of Japanese products in the West.

Akio Morita’s Journey: From Saké Heir to Sony Trailblazer

Morita, born into privilege in Nagoya, was destined to inherit his family’s saké brewery. Yet, his interest in the family’s phonograph during high school diverted him toward electronics. Serving as a shore-based engineering officer for the Imperial Japanese Navy during WWII, Morita subsequently joined forces with Ibuka to found Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation,) with an initial investment of 190,000 yen (some US$500 then.)

Sony: Pioneering Consumer Electronics Excellence, Echoing Apple's Innovation Ibuka concentrated on research and development, and Morita took charge of obtaining funding and managing sales, as well as overseeing marketing activities from an abandoned department store. Despite initial setbacks with inventions like an electronic rice cooker and the first tape recorder, Sony’s breakthrough came with the transistor, licensed from Bell Laboratories in 1953. This innovation led to the development of a portable transistor radio, which captivated consumers four years later.

A trailblazer in product development and marketing, Morita was determined to redefine the perception of Japanese goods globally. To establish Sony’s identity internationally, he rebranded the company as Sony Corporation, derived from the Latin word “sonus” meaning sound, reflecting its commitment to audio technology.

Akio Morita’s Vision: Transforming Sony into a Global Tech Powerhouse

Recognizing the negative connotations associated with “Made in Japan” among American consumers in the 1960s, Morita relocated to New York with his family to immerse himself in the language and culture of Sony’s largest market. His leadership ethos prioritized creativity, teamwork, and customer-centricity.

In the early 1990s, Sony emerged as the Apple of its time, establishing itself as a trailblazer in the world of consumer electronics. Under the visionary leadership of Akio Morita, Sony pioneered a series of groundbreaking products that not only captured the imagination of consumers but also reshaped entire industries. From the iconic Walkman that revolutionized personal audio to the introduction of the VCR, Diskman, and Trinitron color television, Sony consistently pushed the boundaries of innovation. Sony’s commitment to sleek design, cutting-edge technology, and user-friendly interfaces set it apart as a symbol of technological prowess.

Sony Walkman: Pioneering Portable Music and Cultural Revolution Morita’s strategic foresight, coupled with Sony’s dedication to quality and creativity, positioned the company as a trendsetter, influencing the global perception of Japanese goods and cementing its legacy as the trailblazer of the early technological era. Morita even went to lengths like designing special white shirts with oversized pockets for salesmen to showcase the Walkman’s portability during its American launch.

The Visionary Behind Sony’s Global Rise

Read Made in Japan for a captivating narrative of Morita’s journey, Sony’s evolution, and Japan’s rise to global prominence. Delve into Morita’s strategic decisions, leadership style, and commitment to quality and innovation, offering valuable insights into building a global brand, overcoming adversity, and transforming industries. Uncover the post-war Japanese commercial landscape, trade tensions with America, cultural dynamics, and management principles that propelled Sony’s success.

How Toyota Thrives on Imperfection

March 25, 2024 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Toyota's Reflection Ritual: Perfecting Success with 'Hansei' The Japanese seamlessly blend their way of life with business, offering valuable lessons for the rest of us. Central to their culture is “Hansei“—deep self-reflection to acknowledge mistakes and plan prevention strategies. Hansei is practiced ad infinitum and consistently. It’s vital for personal and professional growth, both individually and collectively.

Toyota exemplifies this approach. Even after success, every team holds reflective “Hansei-Kai” meetings, akin to After Action Reviews (AARs.) The notion of everything being flawless is actively discouraged; instead, the culture stresses that “no problem is a problem.” If the team fails to identify any issues, it suggests they didn’t exert enough effort to meet expectations (highlighting areas for improvement,) lacked critical or objective analysis, or perhaps needs to cultivate more humility.

Lessons from the Japanese Decision-Making Process

November 10, 2022 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Japanese firms traditionally use the ringi seido (“request for approval system”) to make critical decisions. A proposal is circulated to appropriate people, advancing from lower to higher ranks. As the proposal works through the management layers before landing at the top, each participant puts their stamp (the hanko) on the document.

This collective consensus process allows for a greater number of reasonable alternatives to be considered and for the risk to be spread. Although it may be slow, the implementation is faster once the decision is made. (Since the early ’90s, Toyota has followed a “three-stamp movement,” restricting the number of people needing to approve a proposal to three.)

Unlike consensus management in the west, the ringi system is often used to appease factions in an institution. Given the Japanese norms (nemawashi) of social structure and intercultural communication, everybody tends to be very diplomatic when giving an opinion. A decision isn’t made if unanimity isn’t reached.

Mottainai: The Japanese Idea That’s Bringing More Balance to Busy Lives Everywhere

June 7, 2021 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

You don’t have to be a Japanophile like me to be familiarized with the notion of Mottainai. Take a brief trip to Japan and observe the culture, and you’ll become acquainted with the expression that’s deeply embedded in the way of life there. Depending on the context, you’ll hear mottainai as either the admonition “don’t waste” or the assertion “too precious to waste,” when, say, you spill rice.

In recent times, conservationists such as Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai have applied that phrase to inspire humankind to reduce, repurpose, reuse, and recycle. “If we are wise like nature, we would practise the mottainai spirit. The earth practises mottainai. It reuses and recycles. We even get recycled when we die. We go back into the soil,” Maathai has said.

What the Japanese Can Teach Us About Cleanliness

Over in Japan, tidying up is a bee on the bonnet. Cleanliness is a moral virtue, and cleaning is an act of spiritual practice—indeed, a means to purify the soul. In Shinto, good spirits can dwell in clean environments, and you’ll frequently observe Japanese people cleaning their homes and offices.

Ever since the post-war reconstruction, the Japanese have also encouraged upkeep and conservation. They tend to make the most of limited resources and avoid wastefulness. Their culture dissuades the idea of trashing things.

Moreover, the concept of animism in Shinto encourages reverence for objects—from teapots to katana. There’s even an old Japanese parable about a spirit ghost named “Mottainai Obake” who haunts children who treat things wastefully.

Inner Peace Starts with the Cleanness of Our Inner and Outer World.

Knackered for the physical space, the Japanese are devoted to efficient household goods and gift-giving (albeit with lavish gift-wrapping.) Their zeal for getting organized has led to a cottage industry of clutter counselors and storage experts who’re celebrated in television shows and consumer magazines as out-and-out innovators.

In this cultural context, Nagisa Tatsumi’s 2003 book Suteru Gijyutsu (“The Art of Throwing Away”) caused a national sensation with its bold proposal. Tatsumi challenged the Japanese to rethink their attitude to possessing things and to have the courage and conviction to get rid of all the stuff they really don’t need.

Tatsumi goaded people to let go of the things that are tying them down:

Possessing things is not good in itself. We have to consider whether they’re necessary, whether they’re used. And if something’s unnecessary, we should get rid of it. This is the essence of the Art of Discarding. Once you appreciate that you don’t have to keep what’s unnecessary, you’ll be better able to use what is necessary with proper care.

Tatsumi’s book sold 1 million copies in six months and quickly got translated into Korean and Chinese. Indeed, it was the book that inspired Marie Kondo, the reigning queen of decluttering.

Tatsumi’s Book Inspired the Current Obsession with Decluttering

In Suteru Gijyutsu, Tatsumi cheerfully explores the many psychological snags that make people reluctant to discard things.

Take the “keep it for now” syndrome, such as with the advertising leaflets that used to be inserted in the weekend newspaper. Tatsumi advises, “You think, ‘There may be something on sale that I might find useful. But I am too busy to go through them now. So I am going to keep them for now and look at them later.'” That mindset merely contributes to the piles of garbage.

Recommendation: Skim Suteru Gijyutsu, written in 2003. It was translated as The Art of Throwing Away only in 2017, a year before Tatsumi’s death.

Tatsumi’s message is simple yet profound. She guardedly reminds readers of the stark reality that everything is a waste. No matter what you buy, no matter how much you use it, no matter how much you love it, no matter if you keep it or recycle it or donate it … it’s still waste. It will still end up in a landfill someday. By learning to discard, you will reclaim space, free yourself from “accumulation syndrome,” and pave the way to rediscovering joy and purpose in a less-cluttered life.

Idea for Impact: Take back control, gain space, free yourself from “accumulation syndrome,” and find new joy and purpose in your less-cluttered life Take Tatsumi’s motto to heart: “If you have it, use it. If you don’t use it, don’t have it.”

Marie Kondo is No Cure for Our Wasteful and Over-consuming Culture

February 11, 2021 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

I recently watched Tidying Up with Marie Kondo (2019,) the popular Netflix series featuring the Japanese decluttering evangelist. The show is based on her bestselling manual, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (2011.)

In each episode, Kondo cheerfully proclaims, “I love mess!” With certain calm, she calls on various families and goes about clearing their tat-filled homes and bringing order to their chaos. Her trademark sense of minimalistic bliss is informed by Japanese aesthetic and a Zen-sense of orderliness.

Apparently, Marie Kondo isn’t attuned with Christianity.

Interestingly, Kondo has clients kneel on the floor and “ask” their dwelling for “permission” and “cooperation” before they get started. “I’d love for you to picture your vision for your home,” she pleads. “Communicate that to your home.” She encourages saying “thank you” to their piles of clothes as they sort and fold them. She daintily treats inanimate objects as living things and speaks to them. She encourages her show’s audiences to do the same.

That’s Buddhism/Shinto in force. Some flavors of native Japanese spirituality focus on inanimate objects’ sacredness. Several of Kondo’s critics in America have insisted that her methods aren’t compatible with Christianity. Kondo’s rituals of treating objects as if they have feelings, these critics have declared, is to be discouraged because her ways invoke animism, the religious notion that objects possess some sort of spiritual essence.

“Kondo-ing” Has Become a Verb.

With a translator in tow, Marie Kondo never treats her patrons as victims, and that’s exceptionally impressive.

By eschewing a victim mentality, Kondo encourages and empowers people in a way that actually brings about lasting change. Audiences particularly love her advice on organizing wardrobes and storage spaces and routinizing tasks into maintainable systems.

Kondo emphasizes prioritizing joy. She doggedly insists upon keeping only those objects that “spark joy” (she uses the Japanese intransitive verb “tokimeku,” roughly, “to flicker.”) Her “if in doubt, throw it out” commandment has helped millions of people ward off hoarding tendencies.

Kondo has become a cultural sensation, appealing to all sorts of homes bursting with cheap consumer goods. The “Marie Kondo Effect” is directly responsible for increasing donations to thrift stores and charity shops worldwide.

Keep what sparks joy. Own less stuff. Pursue what’s meaningful.

If you’d like to downsize or declutter without letting go of things you love, take the KonMari method to heart. But don’t go too far. Be careful about shedding items to which you have a deep sentimental connection. Put it into operation earnestly to get rid of clutter. Find joy, significance, and sacrament in simple everyday objects and tasks. Simplifying your priorities and refocus on things that you tend to overlook in the busyness of life.

Only Consume What You Need. Supplement the Konmari method of paring down your belongings with the ongoing strategy for minimizing additional purchases. Buy only those things that will “spark joy” and continue to do so for many years. Never mind that the economy depends upon endless undifferentiated consumption.
Reduce, but Don’t Refresh. If you have a bunch of empty space, be selective in how you fill it up. Cutting down your possessions isn’t an invitation to revert to a situation where decluttering again becomes necessary after a while. Restrain that impulse to acquire the new and the shiny—that’s what overwhelmed Kondo’s clients in the first place.

The real magic of Tidying Up with Marie Kondo is in shedding anxiety, living in the moment, and being your best self. Your happiest moments come when you’re lost to a conversation or an experience. You’ll avoid the helter-skelter of life has the power to deny and neglect what’s most important in your life.

Will the Marie Kondo Effect alleviate haywire consumerism?

The more profound significance of decluttering and minimalism is to help make better choices when making purchases in the future.

And beyond the individual convenience, it would be more productive to build up collective awareness and confront the modern consumption economy. It only presents overwhelming incentives to mass-produce and overconsume superficially appealing items.

Collectively, humanity needs to start questioning whether we should be pursuing growth at all. The economic system we have now can’t sustain forever. Our ecological systems can only sustain so much life. We’ve grown so much as a population, and we’ve started consuming so much that we’re straining the earth’s ability to support us. Hyperconsumerism needs to stop.

Idea for Impact: Negligent hyper-consumerism is shameful and embarrassing, even to this “card-carrying” capitalist.

Ironically, after making us get rid of everything, Marie Kondo has started peddling such things as therapeutic tuning fork and crystal ($75,) compost bin ($175,) and food storage container ($60) that are guaranteed to “spark joy.”

At any rate, I hope Marie Kondo and her ilk inspire a collective self-loathing at how much we consume. Utility should be the principal criterion for what we buy and keep.

I urge you to make strides towards more mindful consumption and consciously differentiate wants and needs.

Buy what you need. Buy the best quality stuff you can afford, and keep them for longer. Choose things that can be easily repaired—if possible, repurposed and recycled. Encourage businesses that peddle goods that are manufactured as responsibly and mindfully as possible.

Lessons from Toyota: Go to the Source and See for Yourself

October 8, 2020 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Firsthand, on-the-frontlines observation can offer critical insights that facilitate informed—and inspired—decision-making.

The Japanese approach to problem-solving calls this Genchi Genbutsu (literally “go and see for yourself.”) Sometimes called “get your boots on,” it’s not unlike the notion of management by walking about (MBWA.)

Genchi Genbutsu Refers to a Disposition Than a Specific Action

Genchi Genbutsu is rooted in the idea that any report, say, about a problem on the shop floor, is an abstraction. It’s separated from its context, and therefore generalized and relativized.

Secondhand information tends to misrepresent reality enough to give you a false sense of conviction. The only real way to understand a problem is to see it on the shop floor and get the full breadth and depth of information to make the right decision.

For that reason, any solution concocted at headquarters, where the report is received and the problem diagnosed from a distance, is doubly abstracted from the source.

Genchi Genbutsu isn’t a license for management interference, but to understand the problem, unearth the root cause, and help those doing it to resolve the issue.

Genchi Genbutsu Case Study: Toyota Sienna and the 53,000-Mile Roadtrip

When Yuji Yokoya was appointed the chief engineer for the 2004 Toyota Sienna minivan, he had never designed a vehicle purposely for the North American market. He traveled 53,000 miles across North America to monitor and discover what was wrong with the previous Sienna models. He drove the Sienna and competitor’s minivans through every state in America, every province in Canada, and every state in Mexico. in February 2003, Forbes noted,

In Memphis, Yokoya’s minivan was blown into the next lane crossing the Mississippi from Tennessee to Arkansas. Fix: Yokoya reduced the van’s wind resistance by narrowing the gaps between panels and adding plastic shields under the wheel wells to redirect air.

In Yukon Territory, road noise on the Alaska Highway prevented conversation between the driver and rear passengers. Fix: Yokoya stiffened undercarriage to reduce twisting and added sound-dampening material to the frame.

A culture of on-the-spot problem solving is so ingrained in the Toyota culture. According to company lore,

In the mid-’70s, Toyota had just introduced a four-speed automatic transmission. It was very unusual to have an automatic transmission fail, if ever. It seemed indestructible. When Dr. Shoichiro Toyoda [scion of the founding family and chairman of Toyota 1992–99] visited a dealership, the dealer complained that a car just came in with a transmission that had failed. Dr. Toyoda, in his pressed suit, walked over to the technician, got in a dialogue with him, walked over to the oil pan where he’d drained the oil from the transmission, rolled his sleeve up, and put his hand in this oil, and pulled out some filings. He put the filings on a rag, dried them off, and put them in his pocket to take back to Japan for testing. He wanted to determine if the filings were the result of a failed part or if it was residue from the machining process.

Genchi Genbutsu Case Study: Medtronic and the Bloody Catheter

In the late ’80s, when Bill George became CEO of medical equipment manufacturer Medtronic, he discovered that its catheter sales weren’t good enough. His engineers had said the product was first-rate and improving.

When George visited an operating room to observe a surgical procedure, Medtronic’s catheter fell apart in the surgeon’s hands as soon as he inserted the balloon catheter into the patient’s femoral artery. The surgeon extracted the catheter from the patient. In a fit of rage, he hurled the blood-spattered device across at George, who ducked to avoid injury.

This “Bloody Catheter” incident helped Medtronic fix faulty products and spurred a thorough overhaul of Medtronic’s engineering, sales, and problem-solving processes. George later recalled,

Field reports are a dime a dozen. There’s no emotional association with them. But when you’re in a medical environment like an operating room, all your senses-sight, sound, smell, taste-are working. It’s a totally different experience than reading a field report.

Idea for Impact: If you haven’t experienced something firsthand, your knowledge about it is probably suspect

Even in the information age, not all knowledge you need can be at your fingertips. Go to the source. Be where the action happens. Don’t forego the power of emotional input.

Entrepreneurial Lessons from Soichiro Honda [They Beat the Odds #2]

November 29, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi 1 Comment

Successful people don’t expect or wait around for the perfect conditions; instead they stay focused on their hopes and dreams. They persist in the face of less-than-ideal circumstances. They don’t achieve greatness because of their optimal surroundings; they achieve it in spite of all of the challenges they face.

Grit and entrepreneurial mindset are lessons from the life of Soichiro Honda (1906–91,) the iconic founder of the Honda Motor Company.

Early Influences Can Open up the Future

Soichiro was born in 1906, just as Japan’s pre-war agricultural economy was shifting towards manufacturing. He inherited from his blacksmith-father an inborn manual dexterity and curiosity about machineries. Even in childhood, Soichiro developed a keen interest in the new engines, pumps, airplanes, and machines that were creating Japan’s nascent industrial base. A Ford Model T motor car that had visited his village when he was a toddler enthused him to no end; in later life he often recalled running behind the car in excitement and never forgot the smell of oil that had dripped from the engine.

Like his lifelong hero, American inventor Thomas Edison, Soichiro had barely any formal education and even less interest in conventional wisdom. He developed a carefree, disobedient personality: once, when a teacher berated him for not finishing a school assignment, Honda angrily retorted that the school’s diploma had less value than a ticket to the movies.

Obsessive Attention to Detail

With no interest in book learning, Soichiro plunged into hands-on work with cars and engines. He abandoned school at age 15 to seek work as an automotive mechanic in Tokyo. His first job was scarcely promising: for a year, he cared for an infant baby of his boss’s family. With the baby in tow, he often meandered the garage, observed the mechanics at work, and gave suggestions. Soichiro also tinkered with engines in between diaper changes and bottle feedings. He developed a passion for rebuilding engines, and just six years later, opened his own repair shop in his native Hamamatsu. At the same time, he began building and driving racecars. He also developed a fondness for reckless behavior especially with racing cars and sporadically overindulged in sake.

By 1937, Soichiro had more than 100 patents to his name and perfected a technique for making piston rings for Toyota. He started his own company called Tokai Seiki, but was forced to switch to building engines for the Imperial Navy’s boats and planes to support the growing Japanese military.

During World War II, the Allies bombed and leveled his factory; Honda adroitly built his own alcohol-distilling stills and ran a brewery.

It’s Important to Do What You Love

In 1948, Soichiro returned to his true love: building engines. He started Honda Motor Company in a wooden shack. He focused on engineering and production. He found the administrative aspects of running the company boring and delegated them to his partner, Honda Motor Company’s co-founder Takeo Fujisawa.

Honda’s first motorized bicycle, Bata-Bata, became a huge hit in impoverished Japan. The ever-popular Dream motorcycle followed it. By 1959, Honda had become the world’s leading maker of motorcycles.

Soichiro spent long hours in the shop with engineers and focused on superior handling, fuel efficiency, and reliability. In 1957, Honda introduced its first car, the N360. Honda’s big hit came with the revolutionary CVCC engine that burned a leaner mix of gasoline. The Japanese government unsuccessfully tried to restrain his startup and coerced Honda into merging his company with one of Japan’s stronger, bigger automakers.

In 1972, Honda introduced Civic, a compact car with a clean-burning engine that fit the miles-per-gallon mood of the time. The Civic took the U.S. by storm and created as much resentment in Tokyo as it did in Detroit. When the Big Three lobbied to get limitations on imports, Honda started building cars in the U.S. Within a few years, Honda’s Civic and Accord models became the cars of choice for millions of middle-class Americans.

Entrepreneurs Are Non-Conformists

The nonconformist Soichiro eschewed conventional Japanese managerial traditions by promoting “the Honda Way,” which relied on personal initiative coupled with a close relationship between workers and management. Soichiro’s obsessive attention to detail prompted him to personally test new car and motorcycle models.

Even after retirement from the company presidency in 1973, Soichiro took the title of “supreme adviser.” He made an 18-month driving tour of Japan, visited Honda’s 700 production factories and car dealerships, and reported his findings to the corporate headquarters.

Soichiro Honda died of liver failure in 1991. In building a company that epitomizes Japan’s Emergence as a Global Power as a leader in automobile production, Soichiro was a radical freethinker in a nation that valued conformity. He is renowned for his defiant spirit as an entrepreneur and fabulous creativity as an engineer.

Idea for Impact: Stop waiting for the perfect conditions and get to work. Maintain optimism during difficult times; take action that moves you closer to your goals, day after day after day.

Reference: Soichiro Honda and His Philosophy of Entrepreneurship, Koshi Oizumi’s 2003 Ph.D. dissertation at California State University

How Smart Companies Get Smarter: Seek and Solve Systemic Deficiencies

August 26, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

At Toyota, as cars roll off the assembly line, they go through a final inspection station staffed by astute visual and tactile inspectors. If these inspectors spot a paint defect, they don’t just quietly fix the problem merely by touching up the paint to satisfy the customer or their plant manager.

As part of Toyota’s famed kaizen continuous improvement system, floor workers identify the systemic causes that led to the specific defect on the specific car. They then remedy the root cause of the problem so it won’t happen again.

Fostering an atmosphere of continuous improvement and learning

Most companies cherish employees who are watchful of problems and take it upon themselves to detect and solve problems without criticism or complaint. A software company, for example, may treasure a programmer who observes an unforeseen coding mistake, and swiftly develops a patch to keep her project moving forward.

In contrast, companies like Toyota who are obsessive about quality improvement, organizational learning, and developing collective intelligence don’t reward or tolerate such quiet fixers.

At companies that have adopted the kaizen philosophy, continuous improvement originates from the bottom up through suggestion systems that engage and motivate floor employees to look out for systemic problems, raise quality concerns, and help solve those problems. These companies encourage their employees to actively seek small, simple, and incremental improvements that could result in real cost savings, higher quality, or better productivity. According to Taiichi Ohno, the legendary Japanese industrial engineer identified as the father of the Toyota Production System, “Something is wrong if workers do not look around each day, find things that are tedious or boring, and then rewrite the procedures. Even last month’s manual should be out of date.”

Idea for Impact: To develop collective intelligence and build smarter organizations, discourage employees from heroically patching up recurring problems. Instead, encourage them to find, report, analyze, experiment, and fix systemic problems to prevent their recurrence.

Japan

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Akio Morita’s Journey: From Saké Heir to Sony Trailblazer

Akio Morita’s Vision: Transforming Sony into a Global Tech Powerhouse

The Visionary Behind Sony’s Global Rise

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What the Japanese Can Teach Us About Cleanliness

Inner Peace Starts with the Cleanness of Our Inner and Outer World.

Tatsumi’s Book Inspired the Current Obsession with Decluttering

Wondering what to read next?

Apparently, Marie Kondo isn’t attuned with Christianity.

“Kondo-ing” Has Become a Verb.

Keep what sparks joy. Own less stuff. Pursue what’s meaningful.

Will the Marie Kondo Effect alleviate haywire consumerism?

Idea for Impact: Negligent hyper-consumerism is shameful and embarrassing, even to this “card-carrying” capitalist.

Wondering what to read next?

Genchi Genbutsu Refers to a Disposition Than a Specific Action

Genchi Genbutsu Case Study: Toyota Sienna and the 53,000-Mile Roadtrip

Genchi Genbutsu Case Study: Medtronic and the Bloody Catheter

Idea for Impact: If you haven’t experienced something firsthand, your knowledge about it is probably suspect

Wondering what to read next?

Early Influences Can Open up the Future

Obsessive Attention to Detail

It’s Important to Do What You Love

Entrepreneurs Are Non-Conformists

Wondering what to read next?

Fostering an atmosphere of continuous improvement and learning

Wondering what to read next?