Toyota: Hiding In-House

I’ve worked for a few Japanese companies. There are a lot of beautiful lessons I’ve learned about their culture: an enormous respect for relationships; valuing the process and the journey over the destination. Toyota’s recent recall woes highlight a notable flaw with their culture of keeping it all “in house.” They subscribe to a "Group Think" philosophy: Outsiders and dissenting views are thought to disrupt internal harmony. Did you know their board is 100% comprised of Japanese men? People stay at their jobs forever, mainly because leaving and “job hopping” is frowned upon. A high value is placed upon agreement, consensus and loyalty. So people end up working for the same company their whole careers, and don’t have any other experience or perspectives to bring to the table.

Where does this lead? This “no outsider” philosophy creates a stagnant environment which limits creativity and innovation. There’s no one to rock the applecart, challenge the status quo and shake things up. Outsiders (new hires or partners) bring new ways of seeing things differently, and often incite and action and get things done. It’s hard to solve a problem when you’re so close to it. You can end up like a company that “talks to itself” and doesn’t benefit from fresh thinking and new ways of doing things, which all drive innovation.

Take a lesson. Does your team cultivate new ideas and thinking? Do you welcome outside perspectives? Outsourcing allows a company to focus resources on their core competency and what they do best, and bring in expertise in strategic areas to complement and form a more effective house.

Even Toyota outsources something-small parts. Those accelerator pedals were actually supplied by American parts marker. The challenge is to outsource the right things, and bring in the right partners. The benefits are alternative perspectives and new ways of doing things, and the ability to stay on tops of trends and best practices. Just be careful who you choose, as you can sink or swim with them. Choose wisely.

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