Jay Yoo
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Japan was rated as the most innovative country by the Economist Intelligence Unit, ahead of the US, Switzerland and Sweden. What does this mean? It means that Japan is filing a lot of patents; who knows if they will really see the light of day, or if they are of value. There are a lot of companies who do not file patents and prefer trade secrets, so there is plenty of room for argument as to which nation is truly the most “innovative.” Seriously though, there is no question Japan is innovative as the 2nd largest economy in the world. With major impediments to creativity and innovation (i.e. authoritarianism, less meritocracy, homogeneity, xenophobia, etc.) how does Japan Inc. do it? One big reason may be the “Wah” (harmony) factor. It is well known that Japanese people value groups over the individual, which is key to creating and maintaining team harmony. Creative ideas that add value are a dime a dozen, but getting them to work and to market for public consumption Picture Credit: Two Dragons  Obviously, in Japan innovation has a lot to do with the “Wah” factor. “Wah” (harmony) in Japan is king and people give up their personal interests for the group; in the context of innovating, Wah can be a powerful principal to effectively and efficiently get stuff done. Certainly, I will be the first to say that Wah can breed complacency, a lack of new ideas and stagnation. Case in point, I was completely dumbfounded when I could not get Eggs Benedict WITHOUT hollandaise sauce when staying at the Westin Tokyo. “What? Come on.” That’s right. They could not think of breaking the Wah in kitchen for some individual customer. It was so delightfully ironic. That said, Wah is imperative for execution. That’s what I admire about the way things get done in Japan. They have respect for it, demand it and have it in their collective conscience. It’s built into the fabric of what it means to be Japanese. How does Wah happen? There are many cultural and societal aspects of Wah (far more than one has time to blog about in one entry). For simplicity sake, it’s the wisdom they have around “groups” (Han). It is well known that in Japan they value the Han over the individual. So when it comes to making decisions, executing and getting things done, everyone respects each other’s position towards a collective goal. People give up their self interests and stay in the flow of getting things done. Once a decision has been made, things move with speed and perfection. It’s amazing to observe how things get done.
(ibtimes)References: theblackcoat, ibtimes Filed In: |
Japan Voted Most Innovative Country
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It's The Wah Factor
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