Keep beginners’ humility-Field experiment oriented-

This time, Inamori* spoke about the above motto to Seiwajuku workshop members. What Inamori said is quoted with “”.

“The starting point of manufacturing is at the manufacturing site. The starting point of sales is the place where we contact customers. When a problem arises, it is necessary, first of all, to return to the site where the issue fundamentally happened. The more people get promoted, the less importance people put on the on-site findings. Unless you return to the site which the issue is originally attributed to, you won’t be able to remove the root causes. By constantly visiting the site, we can find not only clues to solving problems, but also unexpected hints that will lead to further improvements in productivity and quality control. This can be said to all the workplaces not only just manufacturing and sales.”

At the very beginning of our working career, we work hard to learn how to do business, however, as time passes, people tend to forget the beginner’s humility. For us to keep learning from the on-site experiences, we should pay attention to the following attitudes.

Let me explain one by one.

1 Think about the origin

“Go to the factory, you should be able to see that the data that you are relying on is totally bullshit!”

Mr. Inamori said to the American manager in the Kyocera factory in the US. The manager never checked the factory and just looked into figures produced by the system. 

“If the input data is wrong, no matter how good the computer management system is, it is meaningless. Nevertheless, we trust such data and believe that it is a wonderful system. Not only for manufacturing but also for production management, if you don’t know what’s going on the site, the system never works. “

Mr. Inamori emphasizes the attitude “experiment oriented”. 

Thus, in the business administration, we must consider where the good and service originally come from? What is the process from the origin to the delivery. In the real estate business which we belong to, I think that the individual properties are the on-site products, and in the service industry, the direct communication with the customer is the actual experiment. 

We should always learn from those actual experiments. 

2 Knowledge is not enough 

“(Top management always seeks people with good academic background,) However, what these people (who graduated from top universities) tend to fall into is the illusion that they conduct everything with their limited knowledge. Even though they say it is theoretically `possible’, it is not so easy to be conducted in practice. Learning or knowing is one thing but conducting or completing is another. Due to the lack of experimentation, they can’t produce the product which is supposed to be produced with their knowledge. “, says Mr. Inamori.

→ People who graduated from top universities are amazing, better than others. We believe that those elite can perform more than do other staff. We need to change this way of thinking. Because we overestimate knowledge, even if we have experience, we make mistakes by overvaluing knowledge. Knowledge is one type of the information applied to one time in history. Sooner or later, that knowledge becomes obsolete as time passes. In that sense, we must be careful not to overestimate knowledge.

3 Treasure hunting spirits

“(Inamori showed his episode by which he learned from his colleague how to wash the equipment to get better results), that guy did not directly teach me about it. His actions and attitudes taught me a lot. This is true in all industries, whether it is manufacturing, service industries or logistics. When I met Mr. Kohei Nakabo, a famous lawyer, I asked what keys are to demonstrate his excellent abilities as a lawyer. Mr. Nakabo answered experiment oriented, learning everything from the practical sites. I believe the majority of lawyers end up doing desk work, however, field work, and on-site learnings are much more important. I found out the fundamental secrets are all the same over the various industries. “  

→ I think investigating the sites is a treasure hunt. I feel I must be more careful in investigating properties. Probably, treasure hunting spirits may help me to find more information from the site inspections. 

4 Attitude of returning to Field experiment oriented

No matter what industry you are in, everyone starts from the on-site practice. But while people get promoted, they forget about those jobs. I am now doing the same work that I was doing over 30 years ago. Over thirty years, various things have changed; however, now I found out I can analyze the phenomenon in various aspects, which I never had thirty years ago. I also feel that such attitudes help me to find a lot of hints to drive and promote further growth of our businesses.  

Further queries or doubts, please email to ytomizuka@abrilsjp.com

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