Historic origin of Kaizen: elevated role of former Japanese peasants, their ethos, combined with American management methods not in favor in the U.S. at the time. Part 1 of a connected Japan business-history suite.
Kaizen
- Format
- keynote
- Runtime range
- 30–45 min (45–60 with Q&A) · 10-min snap lecture available
Related
Related talks & storiesmore speaking on this theme
Keynote
Nintendo, 1889–1989
Nintendo’s 30-year pivot from playing card company to video game leader — the oldest continuously operating corporation on Earth.
Keynote
7-Eleven Japan
How a struggling American franchise deal became one of the most unlikely corporate turnarounds in retail history — and what long-term thinking actually looks like in practice.
An 1867 Brooklyn dare, a haunted corner near an old Revolutionary War fort, and a friend who never explained what he saw.
Related essaysthe written companion
Okay, so, the goofy thing I did about the 2020 Republican National Convention actually did capture that traffic I noticed on google console. Most of the people who clicked through got the joke, and laughed, a few people didn’t and that’s all good. But there were two VERY weird outcomes I had no idea were […]
I did a search yesterday to see if I could find the attendees for this year’s Republican National Convention. This year has been awful, so much death, and so much scapegoating and cowardice from the people who led us here. I didn’t want to watch the convention. I just wanted to know who was going. […]
“Mad Men” has this great scene, where Don Draper and the team present a really new idea to Heinz ketchup for an advertisement, at least in the context of the story. The client does exactly what you describe, just reject the idea after thinking about it. I just read that ‘Heinz’ ad company is actually […]
Book this talk
Ask about this talk for your event.
Opens the contact form on the homepage — mention this talk and I'll take it from there.