Re: work times & accommodation @tokyo, WAS: Re: [tlug] Embedded linux dev wanting to find work in Tokyo.. Seeking advice.

[jim grisanzio <Jim.Grisanzio@example.com>]

Philip Lee wrote:
> inefficiency .... the japanese companies will however pride themselves 
> in their efficiency to get all their reports and work perfectly done. 
> To them, that's what worth working for. Foreign companies to them, 
> face the risk of producing bad quality work and on pursuing half 
> hearted and incomplete work through lots of short cuts. Even if the 
> Japanese companies do not prioritize enough, they pride themselves in 
> their good work ethic and in establishing work processes that do not 
> emphasize short cuts. Its a cruel way to separate the zombies and 
> those who could understand work life balance and reward the zombies. 
> To justify this, the zombies will question top management if top 
> management would instead shoulder the risk to apologise to their 
> clients should an approach to prioritize work result in errors and bad 
> quality work. most of the time, top management will say - lets stick 
> to the good Old japanese work processes and not cause any trouble.
>  
> So how do you get around to convince the top management that you can 
> do a better job than those zombies? Even before showing results, you 
> are not allowed to do it differently and spoil order. Thats the 
> Japanese work order paradox....

I appreciate an individual's desire for perfection. I see that here more 
than I see it in the U.S. -- even though I think the U.S. has a far more 
efficient, diverse, and innovative economy as a whole. There is an 
attention to detail here that is profoundly honorable, and as a result 
many products and services are significantly better here than anywhere 
in the world. However, that's not necessarily the whole story, 
especially the global economy we are experiencing now. The Innovator's 
Dilemma (still scariest book around) demonstrates clearly that a product 
can be too good and therefor cause the direct collapse of a company from 
competitors whose products are just good enough and manages miss this 
consistently.

So, you ask about how you get around convincing top management. Well, 
what are the results? You have the best product? Your sales are growing? 
Your customers, employees, and shareholders are happy? Cool. :)

Jim
--
http://blogs.sun.com/jimgris/