LEARNING FROM THE ENEMY

In 1949, the Japanese held an industrial seminar. For this event, they sent a special invitation to Dr. Edward Deming from America. In his lecture, Dr. Deming presented a new approach to boosting industrial production. This was the idea of quality control (Hindustan Times, 28 December 1986).

For the Japanese, Americans were considered an enemy nation. In the Second World War, America had inflicted on Japan a crushing defeat and humiliation. One might expect that the Japanese would burn with hatred toward America. But instead, they rose above such negative emotions. This is why they were able to invite an American professor to their seminar, listen calmly to his ideas, and accept them wholeheartedly.

The Japanese took his advice to heart. They reorganized their entire industrial system around quality control. They set before their industrialists the goal of zero defects—that is, to produce goods completely free of flaws. Japanese seriousness and dedication ensured this goal was met. Soon their factories began producing flawless products. It reached the point where a British shopkeeper remarked: “If I order a million items from Japan, I can be certain that not a single one will be defective.” As a result, Japanese products came to be trusted completely around the world. Their trade expanded rapidly, until they even dominated the American market—the very country from which they had first received this method through an American expert. In this world, those who achieve the greatest success are the ones who try to learn from everyone—whether friend or foe.