horenso – (report, contact and consult)

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HORENSO (REPORT, CONTACT AND CONSULT)

Dont fx it!

Our company acilitates leadership training or Japanese engineers who are assigned to their

companies actories in the US. Our jo is to mae them aware o "merican leadership styles and

how to manage "mericans e#ecti$ely.

%hen we as groups aout their challenges& someone always rings up this point. '( the machine

isnt operating normally& "mericans try to fx it themsel$es. On their own& they decide that it is a

simple fx& and they can do it themsel$es. )his can turn into a serious prolem later. (nstead o fxin

the prolems& we want them to report the prolem so that we can in$estigate.*

+$eryone in the room nods in agreement.

')he simple fx may co$er up a igger prolem that might not present itsel again until a critical latstage in the process. "lso& i the malunction is fxed& the original phenomenon is gone& so it is muc

harder to fnd the cause. "nd i we dont fnd the cause the same prolem may eep occurring agai

and again. %hy do "mericans eel that they ha$e to fx things all y themsel$es,*

)he -oenSo system

Japanese prolem sol$ing system is sometimes are$iated as -o /hoou& or eport0& en /renra

or 1ontact0 and So /sodan& or 1onsult0. )his system says that when a prolem occurs& worers

should eport the issue& and not eep it to themsel$es. )hey should 1ontact the rele$ant people& th

oreman or the Japanese coordinator in this case. (nstead o assuming that they can fx it

themsel$es& they should 1onsult with others to get their ad$ice.

2ot just or lue collar worers

eading this& you proaly agree that -oenSo system is appropriate and necessary or actory

worers woring with expensi$e machinery. -owe$er& it is just as necessary or engineers and

managers who wor with the Japanese to use -oenSo. (t is critical to eport& 1ontact and 1onsultthe Japanese when prolems occur& so that they ha$e a sense o your thought processes and can

help you come up with the solution. So why do "mericans eel that they ha$e to fx things y

themsel$es,

Just do it!

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(n many circumstances and in usiness in particular& "mericans are rewarded or maing 3uic

decisions on their own& without relying on others. "lmost e$ery jo description includes 'wors wel

without super$ision* and 'a sel4starter.* 5rolems should e sol$ed and decisions made at the

lowest easile le$el in the organi6ation. (t seems lie a weaness to as others or help& especially

when the prolem occurs within ones own area o responsiility or expertise.

Our reluctance to as or help proaly stems rom our pioneer roots. %hen our ancestors tra$eled

through unnown territory and a wheel ell o# the wagon and then the wol$es started howling& thewas no time to do a thorough root cause analysis. 7uic action was needed. )hat wheel had to go

ac on& somehow anyhow.

)he "merican expressions& 'Just do it* and '8ets get this show on the road* show our preerence

doing something& anything without analy6ing it to death.

1ollecti$e decision4maing

Japanese on the other hand& do not ha$e a prolem with consulting with the group to fnd solutions

)his proaly stems rom Japanese rice culti$ation& a highly sophisticated agricultural system that

re3uires the cooperation o the entire $illage in order to grow a successul crop. Starting in school&

reporting prolems and consulting with the group is the undamental prolem4sol$ing method. (n

act& a person who insists on sol$ing prolems his own way is called 'a lone wol&* someone who

does not wor well with others.

1ommon sense

Japanese call upon rules and procedures or their collecti$e prolem sol$ing. -owe$er& in these

human interactions& rules can e tempered y precedent /institutional memory0& now4how& and

'common sense.* ( 'going y the oo* results in a solution that is unworale& a more 9exile

solution can e wored out. )his is aided y consulting with senior employees with decades o

experience sol$ing a great $ariety o prolems. )he way the collaorati$e process wors cannot e

completely explained. -owe$er& it o#ers the opportunity or di$ergent opinions to come together to

come up with a creati$e solution. ( you switly and silently fx the prolem yoursel& you deny the

possiility that there is a etter solution.

)he postmortem

Once ( had the opportunity to oser$e a postmortem meeting ater the launch o a new product tha

was de$eloped in the US. )he iggest issue or the Japanese was that the "mericans did not share

prolems and solutions with them. (n other words& not enough -oenSo. Or& i the prolem was

communicated& the spreadsheet simply said 'fxed.* )hey wanted e$ery detail o the prolem and

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wanted to now exactly how it was resol$ed. "nd why wasnt it reported as soon as possile, )he

"mericans elt that the Japanese should ha$e etter things to do than concern themsel$es with

issues that should ha$e een well within the "mericans authority to fx& so they ailed to report

e$ery single issue as the Japanese wished& in the interest o sa$ing time.

:or the Japanese& there were three main prolems with this. :irst& since the "mericans did not repo

some o the prolems& they spent 3uite a it o time looing or solutions that the Japanese had

already disco$ered with earlier products. Second& e$en though the "mericans 'fxed* someprolems& the fxes hid prolems that did not surace until later more time4critical stages where the

prolems ecame much more expensi$e to fx. )hird& the ao$e two situations made the Japanese

concerned that they werent getting the real picture that or the next project they cut ac on the

"mericans decision4maing authority. )hey instituted an amount o control that pre$ented

"mericans rom utili6ing their engineering sill creati$ely& which was why the Japanese wanted to

wor with them in the frst place.

Dont e a 'lone wol*

Using the -oenSo system to eep in close communication with the Japanese may seem time4

consuming& ut it will increase their trust in your decision4maing aility. ;ou may fnd that y not

fxing e$erything on your own& you actually gain more trust and authority.

!

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