Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Not This Year!

In 2005, Toyota won the Japan Quality Award [English page]. Obviously, not this year.

I bring this up NOT to pile on as another detractor.
Toyota is a career Alma Mater.

No, this post is here as a thought-provoker.
To suggest one looks at the events / actions / reactions. To learn -

* That Process, People, Strategy, and Tactics are 'success-deciders'.
* That 'success' requires constant vigilance.
* That objectives must be checked to assure they do not conflict.

* That the toughest job of any company is to get its people to understand their true responsibilities, the implications of their every actions, AND to activate the pride, presence, and freedom in each associate to allow them to stop / think / act to do the best they can.

The Toyota mess is not the result of chasing GM - To be the biggest.
If it was that simple it would be an easy fix.

I fear it it may be more deeply rooted. It may be endemic to why Toyota builds a
$375,000 250 unit supercar, wastes $$Billions on a failed never-winning F1 team, AT THE EXACT SAME TIME it messes up its core business by taking actions that surrender the foundation to its reputation - Quality.

It may be as simple as - Focus.
It probably includes - Smarts, too [Not the cars....the thinking thing].