When excellence becomes a problem

Ryujiro Takami was only 23 years old and less than one year of experience in his new job: he was the driver of the train in Japan. On the morning of April 25, 2005, while waiting for passengers board the convoy, a delay of a minute and a half I had the nerves.

He waited for his second threat of the month, which ensured a fine or dismissal;so he accelerated to gain time, and derailed the train with him more than a hundred people died.

Railroad Company, West Japan Railway Company, had a policy of strict sanctions. At all costs sought to improve the effectiveness and timeliness of service without realizing that jeopardized the safety of its passengers and employees. The paradox is that the more we tried to approach the "sun of excellence," was the closest the disaster.

The story of this tragedy reflects the pathological elements of "corporate republic of incompetence in which we live: impatience, stress, fear, lack of organizational control and personal control; compliance rules to the letter, dilution of guilt and responsibility; organizational hysteria and loss of the real meaning of customer satisfaction, "says Gabriel Geneva, philosopher and doctor of business organization in his book The Japanese who crashed the train to save time.

Geneva exemplified by a series of accidents that while professionals are more confident in their skills and abilities are taking precautions.

"To influence and to avoid disasters caused by competent gathered, it is necessary to spread the organization's critical spirit" , which means accepting that everyone can go wrong at any time and that-done-wrong every day more than seven times such that "awareness of the vulnerability itself provides strength.

And, conversely, invulnerability awareness is a danger both for each individual person to our organizations ".

With this attitude and the meetings or activities that no concrete results, organizations become baroque companies : instead of addressing the problems or situations directly generate other activities that address the issue indirectly.

For example, the activity is running an incentive program for employees and can be divided into a three-step process: planning the program, run it and check its effects. However, the chain of activities can be extended by consuming valuable time and effort for the company.

The author maintains that makes us believe competent incompetent, while accepted as incompetent allow us to direct our path to wisdom possible.

Management at low

Gabriel Geneva opposite management advocates an omnipotent and omniscient address aspires to know and control everything:

-A Incompetent management has big aspirations, but assumes its small miseries as tiredness and laziness that causes the job every day.

-A Peaceful pace management will not unduly alarmed or excited; have patience. Simple and achievable objectives is proposed.

-A Management on the counter is not based on the principle of striving for excellence, but in achieving adequate.
-A management lowercase does not shout or raise his voice because it is close to the people. He prefers to use simple words like "boss" instead of leading and "sales" instead of "marketing".