Oh, Hang It!

I worked in Japan for twelve years, amongst Japanese, in Japanese.

One coworker explained it to me thus: "In the east we carefully walk all ten steps to get to the point of decision; our unity and cohesiveness is our strength-- It takes us longer to get there, but when we do get to market, out went most bugs along the way.

"In the west you take about three steps forward and impulsively decide, 'Oh hang it-- let's just get it to market! We're losing money!' Out rolls the product or the software. The sales people are surprised and untrained. The repair and returns people are caught without parts or manuals. The product literature and advertising is hasty and shallow. But worst," he concluded, "mostly you spend the rest of your time issuing patches or fixing bugs or taking returns."

In trying to adapt kaizen to America (with a whole other host of other focused disciplines native to Japan), the cultural differences are so pronounced I've often thought, "Oh hang it-- just get the blasted company to market! I'm losing money!"

Oh, to be in the land of Wa again.

Cheers
Lee