Lean Manufacturing

Failure to Change Is A Vice

I came across the following article not too long ago and though I would share it with you.

While watching a discussion on television, I heard Okuda Hiroshi, Chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. say, “Failure to change is a vice." Further, he said, in essence that it was the duty of every Toyota employee to embrace change wholeheartedly or if they couldn't really change that they would not be an obstacle for others that want change to take place.

From my past experiences, I found it almost universal; people resisting change and feeling that their job is to protect the company from changing. They go to seminars, read books and watch videos, seeing new things happening but inevitably say to themselves, "Nice but not for me." They feel that their job is to protect the status quo. "I have enough to handle right now!" It is what they think and practice.

But, Mr. Okuda at Toyota is implying that to survive in this highly competitive world it is necessary for every single employee to be involved in changing, finding new ways of doing things and re-examining everything that they do to see if there is truly a better way or a different way that might lead to a better way. And if you are stuck, at least you will not be an obstacle for others. 

"If companies don't keep up with the changes taking place in society," Okuda says, "they're pretty much washed up as a business firm. A company has to clearly perceive trends in society and then respond to them. Failure to change is a vice." According to Mr. Okuda, failure to change at every level for every employee is a vice. It is not just managers who must become change agents.  Every engineer, every worker on the factory floor, every office employee and every salesperson must rethink and restructure his or her job.

I gave a presentation on Quick and Easy Kaizen to a manager and her support team at a computer chip manufacturer. As they listened to me I could see some sparks of interest into the idea of tapping into the creativity of every employee.  But as soon as I finished each person gave many reasons why it couldn't or shouldn't be done at this time. How this company has maintained some form of leadership in the field is a miracle but how long will they last with layers and layers of "glue" resisting change?

"Always think about what your next step will be. Continuously improving yourself is the mark of a true professional," says Taiichi Ohno of Toyota, a co-developer of Just-in-Time (JIT). For the past thirty years Toyota has been the world's leader in quality, productivity and customer service. Through Just-in-Time manufacturing (now called Lean in the West) Toyota has revolutionized the way goods and services are produced and delivered. I would recommend that you listen carefully to the words of Toyota's leaders both past and present and understand how "change" can become the new buzzword in your company.

As Dr. Shigeo Shingo, also a co developer of JIT said, "Now that you know what to do, go and do it."

Source: Norman Bodek