Defending Bill Clinton during the impeachment trail before the Senate, Dale Bumpers said, “when you hear somebody say, “This is not about sex” – it’s about sex.” For years, we were told that there was no definitive link between smoking and cancer. There are thousands if not millions of people who believe that humans have walked on the moon. All of these things are ridiculous on the face of it, but it is on closer inspection that we find ourselves drawn into labyrinths of deception until we say, “Huh, well, maybe it’s not about sex.”
So when you hear people say, “Toyota’s quality problems have nothing to do with how their cars are made” you know that is ridunculous, right? Of course, if there is something wrong with a car, it’s because of how that car was made. Toyota’s “Lean” manufacturing is all geared toward removing inefficiencies and standardizing parts and processes. There is something lost, however, when the screws get tightened down so far. I think it is the opportunity for the individual to put his values, his spirit into the end product.
Whether you are cranking out mortgages or cranking out minivans, you have to want to serve the person buying your product for that product to be great. Financial firms have obviously lost their sense of service, sending our economy careening out of control and almost over the guardrail. Toyota has shown us that crashes are not just for Wall Street anymore. Still, we hear that “financial innovation” is essential to the growth of the economy. We hear that Lean processes are the future not only for manufacturing, but also for medicine, publishing, and on down the line. Just remember that these people probably think Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon too.