This is a story about a happening that occurred more than 20 years ago. In 1978, the surveying instrument manufacturer Horiba, Ltd. was celebrating its 25th anniversary and introduced the company slogan "Making work fun." This slogan drew a lot of attention. Actually, I was up to my neck in preparations for getting the Singapore Factory started at the time, so I didn't hear about it for a while. However, I remember that it made me think a lot.
  It is irrefutable that for Japan, which started after the war from the aforementioned policy of "tea, paper and china," that nothing was more important than doing its best to "catch up and pass" the advanced Western nations. This process almost completely overlaps half of my life, since I was born in 1950. Japan managed to achieve impressive progress in process innovation through steady, serious one-step-at-a-time efforts. This Japanese style of process innovation is represented by the famous "Kanban (just-in-time)" method developed by Toyota. All of a sudden, although there were a number of factors for the success, Japanese companies found themselves leading world markets in several industries. This was a period when there was no room for non-serious attitudes or phrases like "We don't take ourselves seriously" to be incorporated into the vocabulary. The Japanese-style administrative practice of uniting the entire company as a unit provided the environment to support Japan until it became an economic superpower.
  The advent of environmental pollution emerged within this process of economic growth in Japan, and a number of other problems emerged between Japan and overseas countries including the concentrated export of products that left the country in waves and was referred to as "the exporting of unemployment by Japan." Soon Japan's economic expansion was criticized as an "economic animal" and resulted in growing trade friction.
  However, I personally believed that the first generation of administrators in postwar Japan, with my father naturally included, simply did their best within the economic environments they confronted as they emerged. It is because of this that we have developed the ability to be selective concerning food, clothing and housing. Nevertheless, I often say, "Success is the root of failure." It is also a fact that the know-how for success can cause sudden deterioration when the response to a changing environment is mistaken.

  I apologize for taking such a hard logical approach, but the fact that Japanese companies demonstrate their power well in a volume-based market in which the experience curve is effective is a statement we often hear. In other words, it is an administration made for a seller's market based on the process of "high market share -> increased cumulative production volume -> reduced costs -> increased profits." It is the collapse of this premise that has become particularly obvious in the lengthy Japanese recession of the nineties.
  Nonetheless, once a person experiences success or attains know-how concerning success, it doesn't disappear easily. The experience of "This is what happened under such and such conditions. So we did this and it was successful in the end." leads to failure after all. Success is truly the root of failure.
  There is no such thing as a best method or an all-mighty management theory. This is my basic belief.
  Many opinions are voiced in our company meetings. However, even if an opinion appears to be wrong, I don't deny it totally. My approach is to accept it by saying, "That is true. I think it is an excellent opinion. However, under conditions such as these, wouldn't it be better to..."
  Based on the possibility that the voiced opinion may be the best possible response, I respond with a question that inquires as to what would be the best condition for the opinion presented. The administrative environment of Kato Spring has also become one where this type of communication concerning problem awareness is critical.