Seeking the perfectionism -to secure manufacturing industry-

“Some people are often satisfied with their work of 90% completion. But they can never make the perfect product with “cutting edge”. They may probably believe that mistakes can be erased with an eraser. But this is totally wrong, especially in the manufacturing industry. No matter which functions you are responsible for, in case you fail to make the final 1% effort, your achievement should end up null. To make your efforts even more fruitful, you must always seek perfection at work.

In the old days, when Kyocera was still small and only produced various ceramic parts for the electronics industry, most of them were made to order from customers. The sales staff used to visit the customer. They said, “Make these ceramic parts and deliver them by ****”. The sales guy said to the client “For sure, we will make it in time.” Customers develop a production schedule, taking into account the Kyocera parts’ delivery.

However, only in such a case, a staff makes a small mistake at the last minute and fails the production. If the product takes a total 15 days from mixing the powder to completion, it will take another 15 days if it fails before the final shipment. We must tell our customers, “Please wait another 15 days.”

This of course makes our customer upset. “Well, look, outsourcing products to a poor company like Kyocera, would lead our company to collapse!!” The sales staff was scolded, and desperately reported this to me. “President, the client said they will never do business with us again….” I know that even the slightest mistake can be a serious issue because I have dealt with such problems. Therefore, from the very beginning, Kyocera has forced our staff to pursue perfectionism. ”

This perfectionism is what I really and strictly hold with my staff and colleagues.
But in reality, I can’t force my staff to conduct their practice in accordance with perfectionism.

I am also asking myself; so far, whether or not I have been pursuing our works with such sublime mission and passion?

What do we need to do to maintain perfectionism in a company that includes staff and the president? I thought the following four items are tips to maintain perfectionism .

1 Talk about the consequences and risks of failure.

2 Eliminate the root cause of failure

3 Explain that mindset-consciousness or thought- delivers results

Let me explain one by one.

1 Talk about the consequences and risks of failure.

As Mr. Inamori said, assume that we make a mistake at the very last minute, and it takes another 15 days to recover and deliver the product. This would lead to our company going bankrupt. If this happens, not only you but your family will hardly survive without any job for living. So don’t get unconcentrated even at the last minute of your work process and commit yourself to the perfect completion.

I think it is important to convey this motto. I also would like to tell the staff to do their daily work carefully, while keeping what they treasure in their mind.

2 Eliminate the root cause of failure

Quarrel with your spouse at home, concerns of staffs’ children and parents, or some financial trouble, all of them may occupy the staff’s mind. Under such a situation, people cannot concentrate on their work. Therefore, I think it is necessary for the leader to be like a psychological counselor, to feel that staff who are in trouble, and to take care of him/her so that he/she can get rid of his/her worries.

Up until now, I have spent some time learning psychology and how to eliminate our mental blocks, and consulted our staff to at least tell them how much pain they are feeling in their mental and emotions. At the same time, in order to keep the leader’s own mind always neutral and clear, I feel leader’s taking mental care is very important.

3 Explain that mindset-consciousness or thought- delivers results

“Maintain strong desire in your mind”

“Stay always cheerful and positive, with dreams, hopes and honesty”

Those are the principles of Kyocera’s twelve management clauses. Not only this, but in philosophy, Mr. Inamori explains how important our mindset is.

What makes the result, what makes the reality in front of you, have always been our mentality and mindset. This is what I realized through experience.

We learned those mottos, but it is not easy to get enlightened with those principles.

In order for us to achieve that status, I would like to constantly share the following with our staff:

1) The law of the universe (causal retribution, what you give back to yourself)

2) Consciousness- intention- What kind of intention do you direct to your counterpart? Do you intend to take something from others or to give something to others?

3) Screen something unusual. Is there something wrong, you find to be weird, or you feel uncomfortable with?

I think there are still more items for us to pay attention to, but by carefully examining the above three points, I think that we can maintain good and healthy energy to create a good circulation.

Now, in summary, I think that explanation, concentration, and intention are very important to maintain our mindset so that we can pursue perfectionism as Inamori said.

We are still in the middle of the journey to pursue such perfectionism, but we will gradually do our best to get close to such heights.