Since 1960, Japan’s Ministry of Education has presented the sōi kufū kōrōsha shō, the award for contributors to creativity and ingenuity. It honors people in companies and other organizations who have actually made creative improvements in their own workplaces. The examples it gives are a dramatic rise in work efficiency, better product quality and large cost reductions. Individuals and groups can receive it. In fiscal 2025, the ministry honored 450 people.
The Incident Is Not in the Conference Room
The film Odoru daisōsasen the Movie (Bayside Shakedown) opened in Japan on October 31, 1998. It earned 10.1 billion yen. In it, the hero, a police detective, shouts: Jiken wa kaigishitsu de okiteru n ja nai! Genba de okiteru n da! “The incident is not happening in the conference room. It is happening at the scene!”
The Wisdom of All
Panasonic quotes its founder, Matsushita Kōnosuke: Shūchi o atsumeta zen’in keiei, kore wa watakushi ga keieisha to shite shūshi ikkan kokorogake, jikkō shite kita koto de aru. “Management by everyone, gathering the wisdom of all, is what I kept in mind and put into practice as a manager from beginning to end.”
He also said that the more the wisdom of all employees is used in management, the more a company develops. At a policy meeting in 1957, he said: “Matsushita Electric is managed by the wisdom of all.”
Monozukuri Nippon Grand Award
Since 2005, the Japanese government has presented the Monozukuri Nippon taishō, the Monozukuri Nippon Grand Award, every two years. Monozukuri means the making of things. The award honors seizō seisan genba no chūkaku o ninatte iru chūken jinzai, mid-career people who form the core of the manufacturing and production floor. It also honors the skilled people who have upheld traditional and cultural skills.
Frontline Strength
Genbaryoku (現場力): the strength of the front line. A Japanese business training site defines it as the power to solve problems on site.
The 2018 white paper on manufacturing of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry adds that genbaryoku is not limited to the production floor. Every place where people carry out an activity can be a genba. The white paper says that this strength is thought to be akin to kaizen and suriawase.
Ordering by Hypothesis
Seven-Eleven Japan tells its part-time staff that the weather and local events are important information when ordering. Its parent company calls this ordering by hypothesis: stock and sell according to a hypothesis built on data, check actual sales, and keep improving the accuracy of orders. For each item, staff work out why it sold or did not sell.
Go and See
Genchi genbutsu means the actual place and the actual thing. A Japanese university bulletin says that a deep understanding of a situation requires looking directly at the facts on the front line, in the spirit of genchi genbutsu.
The same bulletin tells a story about Ohno Taiichi of Toyota from his years as a plant manager. He was famous for carrying chalk in his pocket. When a machine did not perform as expected, he drew a circle on the floor with it and gave an order: Soko ni tatte mite ore. “Stand there and watch.”
The Vocabulary of Seeing for Oneself
Sangen shugi (三現主義): the principle of the three actuals. Genba, the actual place. Genbutsu, the actual thing. Genjitsu, the actual facts. Problems are solved by observing the thing at the place, not at a desk.
Hyakubun wa ikken ni shikazu (百聞は一見に如かず): a hundred hearings are not worth one seeing. Seeing something once with one’s own eyes teaches more than hearing about it many times.
Tatami no ue no suiren (畳の上の水練): swimming practice on the tatami. Practice that is all theory and of no real use.
Creative Ideas at Toyota
In 1951, Toyota began an activity in which employees submit creative ideas for improvement. Today it is called the sōi kufū teian seido, the creative idea suggestion system. In March 1953, Toyota adopted the company slogan Yoi shina, yoi kangae, good products, good ideas.
The cumulative number of suggestions passed one million in 1974, ten million in 1984 and forty million in 2011.
Quality Circles
In April 1962, the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers launched a magazine for the factory floor, Genba to QC. In its first issue, Ishikawa Kaoru introduced the QC circle, a small group in one workplace that carries out quality control on its own initiative.
The definition describes managing and improving the workplace continuously, with everyone taking part.