Heard an interesting Toyota snippet a little while ago. Apparently instructions, insights and knowledge are not translated from Japanese until they have been embedded for at least 10 years. It is a bit like seeing the light from Ross 154 (a rather unimaginatively named star 9.7 light years away from Earth). At the time Toyota were riding high in the world’s best companies charts. I could only imagine how good Toyota would be when the light finally arrived.
Of course, what I had forgotten was my basic Einstein principle. Light doesn’t travel in straight lines, it is affected by gravitational fields. The same is true of companies, the trajectory does not continue, ever upwards, it gets affected by other forces. The forces, in the case of Toyota, seem to be internal ones. In 2002 the focus of the senior executives shifted from quality to growth. We remained unaware although concerns were being raised in Japan. The expectation was that Toyota would continue to shine, the shock that it didn’t was therefore all the more startling.
In 2003 the Royal Bank of Scotland started work on its new World HQ at Gogarburn. The successful integration of NatWest saw Sir Fred Goodwin hailed as a financial genius . In 2009 RBS announced the biggest corporate loss in UK corporate history, Sir Fred was vilified as the “World’s worst banker”. Was it the hubris of Goodwin and RBS that “bent the light?”
If the light from Toyota was the equivalent of Ross 154, RBS was more a case of Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri is our nearest star “only” 4.3 light years away.
Key messages.
Be aware that everything you know about a company is out of date. A very close relationship might mean you are only a little out of date, knowledge of a huge, international organisation will be light years old.
Remember that gravity bends light, in just the same way internal and external forces are always at play with organisations. Yesterday is not an accurate predictor of tomorrow.