Jun 08
9
Listening to employees; babysteps; global industry domination
Recently, James Surowiecki wrote here about Toyota and their consistent march to the top in the car industry.
There’s one paragraph that really stands out as important to absorb:
According to Matthew May, the author of a book about the company called “The Elegant Solution,” Toyota implements a million new ideas a year, and most of them come from ordinary workers. (Japanese companies get a hundred times as many suggestions from their workers as U.S. companies do.) Most of these ideas are small—making parts on a shelf easier to reach, say—and not all of them work. But cumulatively, every day, Toyota knows a little more, and does things a little better, than it did the day before.
Companies can be so busy trying to grow, trying to do more of what they’re already doing – that they forget to improve what they’re doing. Productivity is just as important as growth!
Make the effort to get even a little better every day. Listen to your employees suggestions, even the smallest ones. Over time the changes can really add up – perhaps even to the extent your company becomes the largest car company in the world.
By the way – I’m a HUGE fan of the book “The Toyota Way“