In my "red book", The New Manufacturing Challenge, I discussed Just-in-Time concept applied in production as well as in distribution, or information processing in the office. In my "blue book", "The New Shop Floor Management", I discussed establishing a quality management process and collecting the wisdom of people in order to develop a competitive edge for the company while appreciating the talent of its people. Both books address the need for controlling the process where the action is.

In order to deliver products or services with high quality at a low cost and at a short notice in today’s changing business environment, such practices are a must. As important as it is for any organization to grasp this idea, it is also critical for each individual to be able to play an integral role in this process and move forward in their career rather than being left behind in the turbulence.

Following these two books, I have been working on "the white book", on the subject of the human mind. Even if this subject may be viewed as somewhat nebulous, whatever the new technology we may have, whatever the new management theory we may develop, or however we may want to lead the changes, ultimately, the mission and our mind will be the core of our action.

Whether our mission is related to business or one’s life, if we are not clear on it, our mind, attitude, behavior, or habit will reflect this fundamental point. Therefore, even if it may be difficult to have a strong belief in what we do, managers are expected to clarify what is expected of their organization and communicate that well with their people. Being in the position to lead people, if nothing else, managers’ grasp of the mission should be clearer than anyone else’s, and their desire to accomplish the mission should be stronger than anyone else’s.

Even though our mission should be represented in our action, we may also realize that there is a large gap existing between what we know and what we actually do. In our brain, this "knowing" or "logically understanding" part corresponds to our new brain, while "doing" part may be tied to our old brain and our body.

Whether in our lives or in business, living in the real world and being pragmatic should mean a lot. In other words, while we have a faculty in our mind to play with our thoughts, dreams, worries, etc., such processes need to be checked by what we can and cannot actually do in relation to our mission. So, let us call this check process the "So-What" test. If we are in the position to lead people, we need to be able to answer this test at any point in time – or reflect on it at least periodically.

Business needs to express its mission into action. Even ants or trees shows us in their own way how such practice is carried out. All have the mission to live, using all what they have. In other words, the mission brings "work" and "live" out of us as opposed to us remaining in a mode mere intellectual exercise. Unnecessary worries or any of our unproductive mind function is a part of this.

Since our intellectual ability is our natural talent, we should respect it in its own right. We may wonder, worry, ask questions, etc. However, if we stress this too much and lose perspective with respect to our mission, we may end up spinning our wheels –a symptom visible in many organizations. Again, we need a reality check, or to ask ourselves "So-What" before we become trapped.

When we think of a gap between what we know and what we do, we must think further about closing the gap so that our intellect has a clear linkage with our action. In management practice, this is equivalent to management being the brain linked up with the appropriate nervous and muscle system so that action can be carried out while utilizing the potential of everybody. Here, they are all driven to accomplish the mission collectively. Simply put, manager’s role is to assist in this process.

To this point, our behavior may be summarized as shown below

Here, a message of my course is: "Even if we know, or think we know and talk about it, play intellectual games with it, etc. If we cannot convert such knowledge into action when we are faced with the situation, such knowledge itself is worth very little in our business", -- this to me, is a fundamental point in attacking the bureaucracy and hence, working on our mindset.

In this process of bridging the gap between our knowledge and behavior, what is important is finding a way to "activate or vitalize the individuals within our organization" as they are represented by individual cells in our brain-body system. In the case of our human body, if our brain-body system is blocked or in a state of imbalance, we may become sick. For example, too much worry can make us sick as evidenced by the correlation between personality and propensity for heart disease.

Just as over emphasis on brain activity may result in a lack of attention to the human body, our organization may show a similar symptom. It is like having too much blood in the brain weakening the natural, autonomous/healing capability of the body organs and cells to fight against diseases. Even though the power of intellect is tremendous, it seems that we need to pay attention to how we use such tools. Having compassion with wisdom and wisdom with compassion is what we need.

If each of us is self-motivated to take a role in this change process while respecting one another, we can respond to the changing environment and pursue our mission easier. So far as it is driven by someone somewhere else, such process may not be seen as genuine in its true sense. Ultimately, as much as our body can function harmoniously with a proper balance between conscious and subconscious nature of our brain-body system, our organization need a good balance between the abilities of the intellectuals and those at the front line of work.

Even though I stress that everyone must act as the president of his area of responsibility in my mini-company concept , top management especially needs to check the health of the organization, guide and coach the people, and provide a heart beat, nutrition, and oxygen for all cells. When we accomplish this, we find healthy cells representing healthy, lively people in the organization who can exhibit their potential.

Bridging the gap between what we know and what we do as well as providing check and balance function for our organization leads to the topic of Glass Wall Management. The topic of activating the cells and pulling out their potential ties with the Mini-Company concept. Both are covered in my course. Even though these are discussed in my "blue book" The New Shop Floor Management, it is also a basic requirement of my "red book" The New Manufacturing Challenge.

When we think of the change process, we must realize that any change requires certain energy to follow nature’s law. In the human process, it takes the form of stimulation, or pain – even if it is psychological. Yet, if the change process is tied with people’s internally generated energy, i.e., basic human desire for improvement or self-actualization, the change process can be smoother.

Similar to the process of organizational change is a boat altering its course to avoid the hazard. Here, the course of the ship and its speed indicate the momentum of the organization that has developed over time. Of course, the heavier the weight, e.g. heavy tanker, the more momentum it will have. Then, the new direction is to be found so that the ship can safely continue the journey and accomplish its mission. If the ship’s crew and captain are willing to correct the direction and work together, the process of the change is easier.

Situations vary depending on the nature of the hazard or opportunities any organization may face, and the resources in terms of people, money, and surrounding conditions. Therefore, I may not prescribe any specific recipe to deal with specific situations in my lecture. Rather, I am simply to 1) illustrate why there is a need for the change, 2) share the vision, 3) provide with generic concepts and techniques, and 4) show examples of implementation cases.

Besides basic techniques and concepts, I would like to create a moment for participants to reflect as to the direction of their business, assess the potential gains and dangers lying ahead, and envision the future prospects in terms of what they might want to do (or not to do). This, I wish to work on not so much in terms of models or playing with specific intellectual tools. As I have found in many instance, if we get into an intellectual trap, we will never be close to the shop floor, never understand what is really going on, never understand the mind of people working there, and even make the wrong judgment.

If this point is not clear, even if we think we know it, we may not see what is going on the shop floor even if we walk there everyday. We may observe what is there. Yet, we may not really understand the meaning of it. We may still live in the ivory tower, intellectually playing with an "image" of the shop floor, and configuring the way to mobilize them, and re-engineer it. Having visited hundreds of companies and lectured, guided, or consulted to many including those with awards such as Deming, Baldrige, or EFQM, I like to emphasize that this is a common problem that may need to be overcome.

As I may address mindset issues directly, you may experience a moment of frustration, confusion, or even pain. Knowing how little "wrong" intellectual exercises have accomplished in dealing with shop floor issues, I will try hard to keep us from falling into this intellectual trap. Instead, by identifying us with the people at the shop floor, I will try hard to for us to understand the shop floor better, people’s feeling, or their potential and hurdles so that we can reach out to their potentials and help create a vital organization. With this cause in mind, I hope the participants find the course to be stimulating or inspiring.

To understand why I structured the course as I did, the following story may illustrate my personal experience that you may find interesting.

Mr. Taiichi Ohno, who is known as the father of Toyota Production System, has taught me many things. Yet, I can say also that he taught me without actually teaching me in any conventional way. For example, after a few meetings with him when I was relatively young, I had a dream of him in the streetcar, leaving me behind. He was waving his hand at me in the streetcar, quietly looking at me straight into my eyes. Until then, I wanted to learn all I can learn from him to the point of almost struggling to get the answer from the man who invented the Toyota Production System.

I still remember vividly an occasion when I had a meeting with him. When I realized, I found his secretary coming to the room to change my tea almost every ten minutes. Obviously, this was a gesture, a polite Japanese way of asking me to leave. Yet, I was there still struggling to get "the solution" from him. And when I was to leave after spending one whole afternoon with him, I was exhausted in the car he provided for me to the train station, finding that I did not have any tangible or convincing answers to my questions.

In this way, I was spinning the wheel until the moment I wake up out of this dream. Then, I finally resolved in my mind that what he means and what this dream symbolizes is that I have to find the solution by myself – not to copy his solution. Realizing this point, and gravely accepting the message as I was given no choice but do so, I finally resolved in my mind that that was the core message of Mr. Ohno. Now, I can only appreciate the time he spent with me over many cups of tea.

Waking up from that dream, I felt my mind opened. By clearing up my troubled mind and developing the confidence that this is his message, I kept on moving to explore my potential. I could read books; I could experiment with ideas; I could gain confidence in myself as I accumulated more and more experience. Later, I summarized my learning in my red book. It is, in the end, common sense. Once you understand it, there is nothing new about it. Improvement and innovation are typically like that. Creativity and confidence come together once we resolve the hang-ups in our mind.

What I discuss goes beyond pure logic, models, etc. but more into the field of behaviour, attitude or mindset that reflects our experiences - even to the level of our unconsciousness. I am hopeful that the course participants can work with me in exploring such a direction. Delivering these points in words in the classroom is in many ways difficult. It is similar to teaching swimming without putting ourselves into the water. While I may use slides and anecdotes from different companies in many different countries as examples, and practice simulations where possible, it may be helpful for participants to know that what I may want to address is our certain behaviour and habits related to accomplishing excellence at the shop floor.

In a way, if I can create a moment in the mind of participants to reflect on their jobs and find a desire to search for the truth or process of continuous improvement, such is the setting I am hoping to create in my course. Experiencing, practicing and getting feedback, and then sharing the experiences are the moments we want to have.

As I believe the willingness to challenge to find the solution on our own is more important than providing any textbook like solution, I may not provide any simple answer to your questions. This may make you puzzled, for example, when I say "what do you think?". Or, I may ask if anyone else can answer the question for me. By these, I am to deliver the point that the answer is in many cases within ourselves, and may not need to be given from outside.

In this way, I attempt to touch the nerves of the participants to make him or her feel that that is the precise point that I want to create, i.e., self-confidence, trial, learning, PDCA, and the process of mutual learning. The more I do not answer questions but let participants come up with their own solutions, the more I am delivering this point. The more familiar we are with this process, the better we are able to empower and challenge people to take more responsibility and self-managing drive. And, in principle, I believe that is what is expected to be done at the shop floor to be more empowered, finding solutions, and contributing more. We need to practice what we preach.

In the previous seminars, there were few moments I remember when I delivered unconventional answers to questions. Instead of sharing my response, perhaps, you can think of your own answer when you are asked these questions. Hint is already provided:

1. A top management asked, "I understand your message, but what do you think I should do if my boss keeps changing the program for improvement?. We start one program and change it to the next one so frequently instead of closing one, and move on the other...".
2. A middle management asked, "But I do not have time to practice all of these ideas... What should I do?".
3. A top management asked, "What books do you recommend to read more on these subjects?".
4. A middle management expressed in a heart-felt manner after experiencing the two-day session. "Now, I feel I got the message. And what I feel now is like a bird in the cage, except that the door of the cage is open for me to fly out. I want to fly out and explore what is out there, challenge the limit of my own. As much as I have a desire to do so, I also feel a very uncomfortable feeling to face the cold wind of outside world, with unknowns and challenges I may face.

If these are the answers we found among ourselves or from our subordinates, let us ask what needs to be done next. As managers, it should be almost certain that over time, people’s interest or energy level would subside. We may remember what happened. Yet – so what? What do you do? As managers or leaders, what is our answer? (Or, should someone else answer the question?).

I might add another point, if you are not troubled, frustrated, questioned, or felt uneasy in my course, perhaps, you are well accomplished or instead, quite oblivious to the topic itself. No pain, no gain. Wherever you may find yourself, I still hope that you find something meaningful and covert that feeling into some meaningful endeavors.

So, let us see how we can experience the moment together. I would appreciate it very much if participants openly share concerns, experiences, opinions, feelings, values, etc. Please, challenge me, as I am to challenge you the point that perhaps the people at the shop floor are very much concerned about i.e., continuous improvement in our work and in our lives.