Toyota Recall and Lessons learned

In the real world, bad things happen to good companies. Be sure, in every change you make, after you have designed what should happen, to take the same amount of time to plan for the unintended disruptions that, you hope, will never come to fruition. (Source: Susan Cramm)

Whether you head a company, lead a good cause, or coach your children's soccer teams, your job is to root out complacency. Remember to:
· Keep up the essential disciplines every single day, not skipping a single one.
· Keep checking everything carefully.
· Repair, renew, relearn, and reinvest regularly.
· Don't rejoice in others' misery, because you could be next.
· Thank anyone who points out flaws. Listen to disgruntled customers or disaffected constituencies.
· Treat even small setbacks as occasions for redoubled efforts.
"Winning is great, but sometimes it takes a loss to get you motivated again. It humbles you down to reality," said a high school athlete in my research. That youth speaks truth! Although he might not be old enough to drive a Toyota, he is headed in the right direction. (Source: Rosabeth Kanter)

In terms of thinking ahead, when I first studied Toyota I noticed they had this kind of cultivated paranoia. Every time I would try to compliment people at Toyota about their success, they would say, “Wait a minute, hold on. Don’t compliment us. GM, the sleeping behemoth, may awake.” Or “Who knows if Kia will develop the capacity to catch us, like we caught others.” Then there was, “In China there must be 1,000 car companies, and we can’t even name them all, let along identify the one that may catch us.” So I think this really bad product failure is probably fuel for another two solid decades of cultivated paranoia. If there was a complacency problem at Toyota, which there may have been, my goodness, if this doesn’t flush that out of the system, nothing will. (Source: Steven Spear)

Success in business is never guaranteed, in spite of the enticingly simple promises made by some of the titles on the airport bookshelves. Luck and timing have more to do with companies’ success than many people realise, or are prepared to admit. Every institution is vulnerable, no matter how great. No matter how much you’ve achieved, no matter how far you’ve gone, no matter how much power you’ve garnered, you are vulnerable to decline ... Anyone can fall and most eventually do. (Source: Financial Times)