‘‘ Bottom line is , you can buy the books , hire the consultants , implement the recommendations full proof then loose the gusto to carry the lessons : The result ? Business as usual ! Cutting edge companies are always looking for ways to improve and close the gap , remain ahead of competition , set the trend , or whatever other name you may want to call it . The shift will only be plausible through learning and selfcorrection .’’
In his powerful closing statement during the interview , Buckner says , “ If your factory is just making cars , once a day the whistle blows and you clock off . It ’ s quitting time , no more cars to make that day . If your factory is making a new way to make cars , the whistle never blows , you ’ re never done making cars better . It ’ s not the way Toyota makes cars , it ’ s the way Toyota thinks about making cars .”
Most lessons in management and how to improve business output revolve around words like innovation , lean , people management , future perspectives . It is the repetition of these phrases , more like words without actions that take away the real spark of the words .
To continually innovate is hectic . Continuously evaluating is time consuming . Outsmarting competition is not a must this year if you are still profitable , it can also be done next year . Learning is time consuming and usually depends on team effort . Until and unless something drastic happens , there is really ever any need to learn to do things differently .
It is no secret that the discussions in many board rooms now revolve around learning . How to learn to make better even better . The economy is not friendly to any company now , even the money handlers - the banks that used to control inflation are now sending workers home . They are giving workers an option to take a package and leave . The arm twisters get twisted !
The lesson in Toyota ’ s production line rests on the fact that if a worker notices an error at any point in the production line , an alert is sent that halts the whole process . Senior executives rush over to see what is upset and address the issue , and afterwards the process is adapted to prevent it from happening again . It is a culture of being open and honest about mistakes . The whole ‘ system ’ takes time to sit around the table and learn from the mistake .
Often , in our companies and at our work places , a mistake by marketing is a marketing problem , a mistake by sales is a sales problem , a mistake by finance is a finance problem , and a mistake by operations is an operations problem . Rarely is there any need to sit around the table to test and rejig the problem until and unless it hits the bottom line . Staff are not encouraged to report issues whenever they see a problem . Most time , there is little ownership of mistakes . Whistle blowers are tagged cry-babies . The recent developments in the corporate world however should bolt us into action . To take significant interest in the mistakes we have made in the past and the lessons we have taken too long to learn .
A typical board room session at Toyota is a non-typical session by most standards . James Wiseman , the Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Toyota in North America recounted to Fast Company the lesson he learnt when he first joined the manufacturer .
At his previous job , management meetings were all about recounting silver bullet moments and looking for the big dramatic improvement , discussing successes and not problems .
The meetings were dismissed and everyone went on to the next big idea . “ When I joined Toyota , my silver bullets were quickly put in the envelope and shipped back to me . My manager at the time reminded me that he was confident that I was a good manager , and that is why I got the job in the first place . He asked me to talk about my problems so that the whole team would help me to work on them ,” says Wiseman .
Even with projects that turned out well , he had to focus on the challenges he had . He had to first learn to admit that there were problems because at Toyota , the mantra is imperfection . Perfection is a fine goal , but improvement is more realistic , more human .
Wiseman learnt very early on the job what it means to improve . He says it is first understanding the standard , raising the bar , then doing
12 MAL 16 / 17 ISSUE