[What that one book gives you.] Only the person in charge can say 'you may stop'

[Reference Article 1]
The decline of Japan predicted by the author of 'Japan as Number One'

'Japan as Number One (New Edition)' by Ezra F. Vogel, translated by Wakako Hironaka and Akiko Kimoto

'This is a book that analyzes the factors behind Japan's high economic growth, but the doctor focuses on the Japanese people's eagerness to learn and their high volume of reading, urging Americans to take it as a lesson.' (Excerpt from the above article)

'Why is white-collar productivity low? Japanese-style BPR 2.0' by Soichiro Murata

Due to the three characteristics of digitalization (fast, replicable, and 100% accurate and infinitely executable), routine tasks previously handled by white-collar workers can now be done by computers.

Originally, productivity should have increased by using the saved time for other high-value-added tasks.

'Most of the work that blue-collar workers engage in targets "physical objects."

And, with very few exceptions, these are "numerous" and "homogeneous" objects.

(Omitted)

Most of the work that white-collar workers engage in targets "information."

What is required is just "one" piece of information that is "as useful as possible."' (pp. 142, 144)

'Unlike the objects created by blue-collar workers, the information created by white-collar workers has almost no correlation between the "time" invested to create it and its "value."

So, what happens if we look at this from the other side?

It means there is a great possibility that we can significantly increase "value" while significantly reducing "time."

The point is simply to stop mindlessly applying the blue-collar common sense—where the time spent on a task is proportional to the amount of value—to white-collar work, and to think about productivity improvement measures that are suitable for white-collar tasks.

In short, for blue-collar workers, it may be fine to have them work by saying, "Do your assigned work diligently and carefully."

However, for white-collar workers, you must have them work by saying, "You must not just do it diligently and carefully. Always think, 'Does this lead to results = profit?' and if it does not, stop investing time in it."' (p. 159)

By the way, white-collar work has characteristics that are significantly different from those of blue-collar work.

Specifically:

1. It deals with information, not physical objects.

2. The amount of work put into creating that information is not proportional to its value.

3. The boundary between routine and non-routine tasks is ambiguous.

4. It is difficult to visualize the work.

These are the four points.

Due to these characteristics, the way Japanese white-collar workers work, in particular, tends to draw lines regarding whether to

'do or not do'

a certain task based on time rather than value (as long as time permits, they will maximize the quality even of gray-zone tasks).

Therefore, unless the appropriate person in charge actively points it out, the person doing the work cannot stop doing unnecessary tasks, and thus, even if digitalization is promoted and work is streamlined, it does not contribute to improved productivity.

It is not only meaningless but also irresponsible for top management to tell the front lines to 'make improvements and eliminate waste.'

What those at the top must say is, 'Reduce the number of people, and to do that, you may stop doing gray-zone tasks.'

Because there is no such thing as '100% useless' work in a white-collar workplace.' (P. 201)

What I thought after reading this book is that the reason Japan has fallen into a developing country, in addition to political corruption and the like, is that management within companies has not been able to break away from past success stories—that is, management for blue-collar workers—which is a cause that cannot be overlooked.

Japan once swept the global market with manufacturing.

That was 'Japan as No. 1,' achieved by polishing management for blue-collar workers to perfection, as represented by Toyota's Kaizen, but times have changed, and today, the productivity of white-collar work, represented by AI, has come to influence corporate competitiveness more than ever before.

However, the company I belong to is no exception, and management, instead of clarifying 'tasks that should be stopped' and abolishing them, is actually increasing gray-collar work more and more (^^;

'tasks that should be stopped'

is actually increasing gray-collar work more and more (^^;

Recovery from Japan's decline in national power is likely impossible without breaking away from the Showa era.

In addition to that,

'quality of education'

is very important to maintain.

[Reference Book]
'The Dilemma of Corporate Transformation: Why Does Structural Incompetence Occur?' by Motokazu Udagawa

[Reference Materials]

[Reference Article 2]