[randomflavor]

It is also funny to the original that asked if japanese can essentially do "Lean".

Umm, Lean is just a copy of the Toyota Way that has been infected with american/euro values.

Constant improvement is Japanese. Americans use it to drive the cost low in order to maximize profits, japanese use it to maximize quality in order to maximize profits.

[hyp0]

That's a mischaracterisation of my comment. Toyota is about improvement/perfecting (Deming's "quality", Six Sigma).

The examples I gave are about new product categories. To repeat one of them: before Sony, there was no transistor radio. They created not just one, but several new product categories - twelve, by Christensen's count. (Unfortunately, Sony didn't create any new product categories without the founder. e.g. the playstation was a great product, but consoles were an established product category.)

That is, it's not the getting better at something, but the creation of something new to get better at (hence Christensen's interest, as the coiner of disruptive innovation).

[ BTW: I can't help but think that the post-war period in Japan somehow enabled this creation of new product categories. ]

[1stop]

Erm... the japanese copied the germans.

I mean when someone says "What is the highest quality car?" - no one says "[Toyota|Mazda|Honda|Izuzu]"... though they might say one of those if you ask about the 'cheapest'... which is counter to your point.

[randomflavor]

I'm not talking about build quality perse - its the process of removing constraints to the end product to maximize efficiency while maintaining or improving quality. German cars are fantastic I agree. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Toyota_Way

[1stop]

You are describing TOC (Theory of Constraints)[0], which predates "The Toyota Way"/"Toyota Production Systems" by ~20 years. It is a distinctly american philosophy that Toyota imported and are a great example of their implementation (As are BMW, VW, and Mercedes).

I think toyota are unique in how they incorporate their suppliers into their own processes, basically applying TOC beyond the walls of their own factory, which as far as I'm aware is/was quite innovative.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints

[judk]

Toyota Way was published as a management buzzword in 2001, but its core "kaizen" long predates ToC. (But is credited to Deming bringing the idea to Japan)

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen

Also, ToC and that horribly written "novel" _The Goal_ is the most oversold management buzzword ever. It is super famous because it was the first "agile" fad to get buzz in the modern era of mass communication.

[1stop]

ToC is a pretty influential piece in the realm of systems thinking, not sure you can dismiss it as just buzzwords given it's obvious application across multiple industries (despite what you think of The Goal).

Kaizen is just a word. It's (literally) like saying "improvement" long predates ToC... well of course, but it has no context.

[randomflavor]

Very cool - thank you. The method of thought I agree is definitely more than buzzwords. Problem is movements that use it and have no idea what improvement actually looks like. These lean movements happening now are ridic.

[noste]

Taiichi Ohno published the original "Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Manufacturing" in 1978 (the English translation was published in 1988), while Goldratt's "The Goal" was published in 1984.