>> ... is NOT a good strategy I think you can be right under some circumstances and wrong in others. For such a strategy to be effective, what is required is

>> ... is NOT a good strategy I think you can be right under some circumstances and wrong in others. For such a strategy to be effective, what is required is for there to be a period of social / technological stability in the rest of the world. I believe that once the direction is clear, Japan's internal coherence allows it to forge ahead. Until that time though, they cannot figure out how to proceed, so they prefer to wait for clarity. Definitely more Waterfall than Agile. Again, Waterfall remains the best methodology for some types of project. But all of this is a vast generalisation. Even now, there are signs of adaptation.