The world's most successful automobile manufacturer is sounding the alarm. Despite record sales, Toyota warns: "If nothing changes, we will not survive." How can it be that the very company that has perfected lean management and efficiency is now fighting for survival? The paradox behind this is highly relevant for leaders: it's not a lack of expertise that becomes a problem, but rather too much of it. This is precisely where what I call the expert trap in innovation begins.

How does one start slowly and arrive faster? What do Nemawashi and Gemba actually mean in innovation management? I've witnessed decision-making processes in Japanese teams where small talk took up most of the meeting, but the actual decision was then made rather unspectacularly in just a few minutes. This wasn't because the decision was unimportant, but because all participants had already agreed on what would be decided. This process is called Nemawashi. In Germany, on the o

In the first part of this series, I introduced you to my new and unique Japanese Innovation Map: 12 principles that show why Japanese teams have the potential to maintain a sense of purpose even under difficult circumstances—not because they have better tools, but because they think differently. We’ll pick up right where we left off with the Orientation and Ikigai + Mono no aware cluster...

Orientation and landmarks are important I remember the exact moment when I realized that something fundamental was missing. I was in a strategy meeting in Tokyo with German and Japanese colleagues. We were well-equipped with a Western toolkit: Design Thinking, Lean Startup, OKRs. Ready to use. Could this work for the Japanese project as well? I immediately sensed that something wasn't right. It wasn't the tool kit that was missing. It was the underlying mind set. Japanese tea

This blog post is not about impulses from the Japanese universe, but about a strategic treasure made in China. I was familiar with...