Page 158 - Toyota Under Fire
P. 158

FOUR






                   Response and the

                   Road to Recovery





             We view errors as opportunities for learning. Rather than
             blaming individuals, the organization takes corrective
             actions and distributes knowledge about each experience
             broadly.
                                   —The Toyota Way 2001




                                Toyota is never satisfied with re-
        storing the status quo ante or getting back to the steady state that
        existed before a problem arose. Instead, the goal is always to solve
        the problem in a way that leaves the company better off for the
        future than when the problem started. Toyota’s strategy during
        the recession (see Chapter 2), when the company spent a great
        deal of money in order to build a platform for future profitabil-
        ity rather than just cutting back to match revenues, is a good ex-
        ample of that drive. This striving to make the company better is
        improvement kaizen.
            However, many problems don’t allow the company to give
        immediate attention, or even attention in the short term, to im-
        provement kaizen. They are crises that require immediate action


                                  127
   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163