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Lifestyle
Lifestyle
BOOK

REVIEW

I would summarize this book as a crash MBA course for
individuals at any level of the organizational hierarchy. I
would say this is a must read for entrepreneurs, managers
and CEO’s.

David Magee, the author of the book and also a journalist,
brings out many lessons on corporate culture, leadership
and strategy that have helped Toyota through its seventy
years plus history making them the number 1 automobile
company in the last 3 decades.
This great success story starts with a man called Sakichi
Toyoda from a remote place outside Tokyo. Toyota started
out as a family company with leadership principles that
are still influencing the company’s direction today. Mr.
Toyoda passed on his principles for business which all the
successive leaders of the company have stuck to for almost
eight decades now.
The book brings out how, in seemingly small but consistent
ways, made steady and phenomenal progress since the
1950s. Some of these principles include: humility, listening
to the customer without arrogance and consciously striving
to make a positive contribution to its community and the
world at large.

The writer also picks out some of the common principles
Toyota has applied through the years which include:
learning from the best and improving on the idea. They did
so from Ford and General Motors and surpassed them. They
pursue perfection relentlessly, have long-term plans and
goals, choose to conquer markets and apply the principle
of Kaizen, which is a concept that highlights its focus on
continuous improvement.
In comparison, Magee portrays American auto companies
as being a bit too devious and imprudent, and depicts
Toyota as being a bit too blameless and kind of perfect in
all they have done. Still, Toyota is a great company and its
American competitors do suffer, in part, due to the traits
Magee describes.

The book is so inspiring that it would make you feel like
wanting to work for Toyota so that you just learn and
experience this great work environment created and
perfectly described through the chapters. It’s a great
guide to leadership that is easy to follow and is proven to
work. Executives don’t have special parking spots; they
are expected to work longer hours, and they walk the
manufacturing floor regularly. In other words, Toyota’s
philosophy is based on mutual respect of all employees, and
the willingness to prioritize the customer over procedural
convenience. It’s possible, no matter the market, for others
to do the same.

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