Continuous Improvement: The Example of Toyota

 

“Improve quality, you automatically improve productivity.”

W. Edwards Deming

 

 Some of us often think that success stories we about people and companies around the world are meant only for a set people with superior brainpower. And that we—on the other hand— cannot match their level of success and achievements.

For example, in my continent of Africa, we tend to think that the white people are greater because of their genes and that’s why they can make planes, cars, ships, smartphones, televisions and we cannot.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

There are great people in every continent and countries and frankly, there are also ‘never-do-well’ in every country on earth. Elon Musk, the iron-man who founded two revolutionary companies like Tesla and SpaceX is of African origin (South Africa).

So I am writing this article to prove that with enough persistence to acquire and practice the right set of skills and habits, anyone from anywhere can attain a legendary level of accomplishment.

With the experience of Toyota, we can learn what it takes to transform our continent, our company and our lives from the class mediocrity to the class of remark-ability.

Now, let’s dive into how the Japanese institution redefined its destiny.

Before Toyota became the high-quality super producer of automobiles that it is today, it was—for quite a while— a struggling company that tried to sell underpowered, overpriced cars in foreign markets without success.

After repeated failures, the Japanese company had to decide to suspend its operations outside Japan. 

In search of answers, Toyota hired an American management consultant W. Edwards Deming who taught Toyota how to improve quality, reduce costs and increase productivity. He helped them create a system of efficiency by identifying, and correcting defects found in their operations on an ongoing basis.

As a result, Toyota has become a learning organization that is totally committed to the art of relentless pursuit of perfection. And with this commitment, Toyota replaces sub-optimal performance with world-class quality. 

William Edwards Deming, the father of total quality management explains this concept in his book, ‘Out of the Crisis’ as follows:

“A person and an organization must have goals, take actions to achieve those goals, gather evidence of achievement, study and reflect on the data and from that take actions again. Thus, they are in a continuous feedback spiral toward continuous improvement.”

From the foregoing, it’s clear that great individuals and companies become so, not because of gene or luck but because of their determination to learn what they need to know and put their acquired knowledge into relentless practice.

And like them, if we are willing to iterate and improve our approach, we can surprisingly turn around the image of our entire African continent.

In the words of the British business magnate, Richard Branson: “Every success story is a tale of constant adaption, revision and change.”

Finally, if you want to maximize your potential as an individual or as an organization, learn from Toyota and commit to the art of continuous improvement from here onward.