Japanese culture treats following proper process as social obligation—respect for those who developed methods, responsibility to those who depend on consistent execution, membership in communities that share procedural expectations. Established procedures represent accumulated wisdom; following them honors predecessors who invested in their development. Others depend on process consistency—colleagues trust shared methods, customers trust consistent quality. Deviating from expected process violates trust even when outcomes happen to be acceptable.
Shared process knowledge creates community; learning a group’s procedures is how membership is achieved, following them is how membership is maintained. This social dimension adds weight to process compliance beyond individual calculation. Even when shortcuts would work, social obligation counsels following established method.
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