"Behold! My spear can destroy anything! And HERE! Marvel at this indestructible shield!"
...which is true?
In kaizen there's no time to argue, use BOTH!
Who knows what Han Feizi Looked like? The point is, he preferred a logical approach. Making sense is important, but in kaizen it's better to try first and think later. |
Taiichi Ohno was often accused of being contradictory. He demanded that methods be standardized but raged that methods always had to be changed. He demanded a paced, moving line and at the same time demanded that the line be stopped for even minor problems. He demanded that the kanban system be implemented but scolded Mr. Nakao when he used a kanban between processes, instead of just putting the two lines together.
Mr. Nakao remembers once when some people grumbled about Mr. Ohno's "contradictory instructions." Mr. Ohno asked for someone to look up the Japanese word MUJUN ("contradiction") and explain the meaning. MUJUN is written with 2 kanji characters: MU for "spear" (or "pike") and JUN for "shield." It originates from an ancient Chinese story of a merchant who claimed to offer a spear that could pierce any shield and a shield that could resist any attack. A wag commented: "Let's see what happens if we attack the shield with the spear!" and the merchant was ridiculed for his contradictory claims.
Everyone recalled the story of the spear and shield. Mr. Ohno then asked: "So which was the stronger weapon?" No one knew what to say. In response to everyone's silence, Mr. Ohno said "I'm telling you to grab BOTH!"
Mr. Nakao admits to remaining dumbfounded at the time, but it was clear that Mr. Ohno meant business. He needed to do his best to carry out ALL instructions. After a while, Mr. Nakao thought he understood better what Mr. Ohno expected. For example, Mr. Ohno demanded high volume AND high variety because that is what would sell. Toyota had to find ways to do both and could not afford to philosophize. People often use so-called "trade-offs" as an excuse to do only one thing or the other. In the end, no matter how hard he tried, Mr. Nakao could not imagine any excuse or rhetoric that had a chance of satisfying Mr. Ohno. And challenging the "trade-offs" of conventional wisdom brought about productivity that none, perhaps not even Mr. Ohno, had been able to envision.
LINGUISTIC NOTES
- The use of MUJUN in Japanese meaning "contradiction" is traced to accounts of the Chinese Legalist Philosopher of ancient times Han Feizi (d. 233 BC). Han Feizi was of the Legalist School that was irritated at the reluctance of scholars to rate the effectiveness of the policies and disciplines of the past. He used the story of the contradictory claims for the spear and shield to make the point that not all the philosophy of the past could be equally worthy of consideration. Like the anecdotal pike and shield, some ideas had to be more useful that others.
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