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Everyone misses the point. Japanese are innovating, but the ingrained American values make most of us blind to the Japanese approach to innovation. Japanese a
by joshuak 13y ago
Everyone misses the point. Japanese are innovating, but the ingrained American values make most of us blind to the Japanese approach to innovation.
Japanese aren't copying they are embracing an idea, comprehending it, and improving it. They could be inspired by anything, like any of us, but there has been much to be inspired by in the US over the last 50 some years. We all do this, but while americans focus on price per unit, Japanese focus on quality.
As I've mentioned elsewhere the subtle but powerful core difference between Japanese and Americans (quality vs quantity) form the foundation of two different emergent systems. Although it sounds simple it is a profound difference at scale.
This is why Japanese are very innovative, but most americans simply don't see it. Japanese had broadcast HD in the early 90s, and phones that could play TV 6 years before the iPhone.
- randomflavor 13y agoIt is also funny to the original that asked if japanese can essentially do "Lean". Umm, Lean is just a copy of the Toyota Way that has been infected with american/euro values. Constant improvement is Japanese. Americans use it to drive the cost low in order to maximize profits, japanese use it to maximize quality in order to maximize profits.
- 1stop 13y agoErm... the japanese copied the germans. I mean when someone says "What is the highest quality car?" - no one says "[Toyota|Mazda|Honda|Izuzu]"... though they might say one of those if you ask about the 'cheapest'... which is counter to your point.
- randomflavor 13y agoI'm not talking about build quality perse - its the process of removing constraints to the end product to maximize efficiency while maintaining or improving quality. German cars are fantastic I agree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Toyota_Way http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Toyota_Way
- 1stop 13y agoYou are describing TOC (Theory of Constraints)[0], which predates "The Toyota Way"/"Toyota Production Systems" by ~20 years. It is a distinctly american philosophy that Toyota imported and are a great example of their implementation (As are BMW, VW, and Mercedes). I think toyota are unique in how they incorporate their suppliers into their own processes, basically applying TOC beyond the walls of their own factory, which as far as I'm aware is/was quite innovative. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints
- judk 13y agoToyota Way was published as a management buzzword in 2001, but its core "kaizen" long predates ToC. (But is credited to Deming bringing the idea to Japan) http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen Also, ToC and that horribly written "novel" _The Goal_ is the most oversold management buzzword ever. It is super famous because it was the first "agile" fad to get buzz in the modern era of mass communication.
- 1stop 13y agoToC is a pretty influential piece in the realm of systems thinking, not sure you can dismiss it as just buzzwords given it's obvious application across multiple industries (despite what you think of The Goal). Kaizen is just a word. It's (literally) like saying "improvement" long predates ToC... well of course, but it has no context.
- randomflavor 13y agoVery cool - thank you. The method of thought I agree is definitely more than buzzwords. Problem is movements that use it and have no idea what improvement actually looks like. These lean movements happening now are ridic.
- noste 13y agoTaiichi Ohno published the original "Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Manufacturing" in 1978 (the English translation was published in 1988), while Goldratt's "The Goal" was published in 1984.
- hyp0 13y agoThat's a mischaracterisation of my comment. Toyota is about improvement/perfecting (Deming's "quality", Six Sigma). The examples I gave are about new product categories. To repeat one of them: before Sony, there was no transistor radio. They created not just one, but several new product categories - twelve, by Christensen's count. (Unfortunately, Sony didn't create any new product categories without the founder. e.g. the playstation was a great product, but consoles were an established product category.) That is, it's not the getting better at something, but the creation of something new to get better at (hence Christensen's interest, as the coiner of disruptive innovation). [ BTW: I can't help but think that the post-war period in Japan somehow enabled this creation of new product categories. ]
- Retric 13y agoJapan was known for making cheap low quality products much like China is now. It's only relatively recently that they moved up the quality ladder. Which suggests there culture has less to do with perfection than you might think. If anything it's the strong Yen which is forcing their hand. They can't make a profit importing materials and making cheap products without focusing on automation.
- doctorstupid 13y agoThey made cheap products because they were asked to, because back then Japan had cheap labor. These products weren't considered fit for domestic consumption (only foreigners would want that junk), and their own standards of material goods were always high. I'm sure that something similar could be said for the Chinese.
- comicjk 13y agoIn my experience, Chinese society is actually much more "American" than Japanese is. Both China and America are fine with doing a half-assed job if it works, and self-assured about effective kludges in a way that Japan is not even about near-perfection. And of course, both are hustling and proud and know they're the center of the world.
- mahranch 13y ago> It's only relatively recently that they moved up the quality ladder. Depends on what you mean by "recent". In my mind, recent means within ~10 years. However, Japan started turning things around in the late 80s. We're approaching the 30 year mark of high quality Japanese products and, to me, that's no longer considered recent. > They can't make a profit importing materials and making cheap products without focusing on automation. But the article is wider in scope than just manufacturing, it's about the entire culture. It's everything from manga/anime to whiskey, Music (Ever hear of Babymetal? Now that's innovation), Kobe beef, to even porn. Those things aren't produced on an assembly line.
- delackner 13y agoIt takes some effort to recover quality standards after an entire country's industry and economy have been reduced to burning rubble.