Patterns of Creativity in Japan Lessons from Successful Japanese Companies – A Resource

Click the image below for a selection of images from the resource/workbook of Patterns of Japanese Creativity (email for details)
Scroll down for patterns index.


“..rearrange the system or setting..”

“..paring, eliminating, cutting, peeling, and throwing away..”

“…’pocket-sized’…. ‘pocket razor sized’..”

Incremental improvement of ideas

Brainstorm like a lotus blossom

Brainstorm like NHK

Brainstorm like Mitsubishi

“…a conceptual, visual, map..”

“Whiskey and Patents”

“…..the bacchanalian heat of eating, drinking, and discussing…”

“…map the timing, interaction and continuity of parallel technologies…”

“…recursive, cyclical, and interactive SPIRAL TYPE new product development..”

“….exploring unfamiliar territory and leaving few stones unturned…..”

“…the Walkman was a sandwich….”

Spin off a new product from an existing industrial process.

Take the ‘essence’ of one product and transfer it to another.

“…transmit ideas rapidly between consumer and industrial products areas….”

“….identify overlaps in research spending in various industries and product areas….”

“….fusion refers to a more ‘basic transformation of multiple technologies….”

“…develop generalists who can see possible linkages and envisage hybrid technologies from existing patents..”

“….Japanese carry their past with them into the future.”

“…overcome the tyranny of Western creativity…”

Idea Contests

“..recognize your bureaucracies…”

Creative Samurai: The Intrapreneur

“..Westerners have been socialized to think linearly, Japanese think in a more cyclical way….”

5 types of fusion

“…ideas from the many are “gathered, assimilated, and squeezed”…”

“….compact, manicured, and highly structured results – like a rice paddy or a bonsai plant……”

“….Japanese focus on problem definition, the West on problem solving…”

“…Consensus ≠ Compromise…”

“…..an organization is a system, a company is a community and way of life….”

“…leaders go straight….around the circle.”

“…to get recognition, give it away…”

More ‘Ura’ than ‘Omote’

“Are brute integrity and explicit communication worth the price of the listener’s goodwill, open-mindedness, and receptivity to change?”

“..blurred resource boundaries….”

“….finely graded hierarchies and narrow spans of control…”

The Failings of Meritocracy in Research

“….there is value in trying to quantify the uncertain…”

“…unpredictability is being countered by treating it as a normal occurrence…”

“….a focus on process, reflection and improvement as opposed to absolute results…”

“…job rotation develops deep knowledge of machinery, systems and processes in the company…”

Focus on Problems not Blame

“…support weaker suppliers….”

“…a dynamic view that allows room for change, innovation and competition at the supply chain level….”

Move People, Not Ideas

Develop ‘Younger Sons’

Institutional Logic

Aesthetic Awareness

“…long hiring process = low initial barriers and smoother debate..”

“the zero may feel less pressure to conform, find it easier to talk directly to higher management, and develop a radically different perspective on the firm.”

“…clients can tend to kill creativity…”

“…groups and individuals must be flexible – performing changing roles and being aware of the work of others…”

“…idea generation as pyramid – building and building and finally reaching the answer at the top…..”

“….If you, as a manager, provide a template or formula and say “go for it”, they will do a beautiful job….”

“We’ve got the whole train set to play with on a smaller scale…we can move quickly..”

The Wedge Effect

Strategic Community Management

Ambidextrous Organization

In-House Communities

“…time-pacing may induce a sense of urgency and make risk-taking more acceptable…”

Networked, Small Venture Projects

“we place a lot of emphasis on jokes – they’re a great source of new ideas.”

Can You Change Your Culture? (Spin-Off or Import)

“…Shed your ego and learn from your competitors, always. This requires humility, speed and judgment…”

Play after-hours = higher levels of confidence and trust in workmates.

Make Friends

Small Group Interaction

Autonomy breeds Interaction (and vice-versa)

Autonomy but not Isolation

“….the confidence, the resources, and the freedom to make their own luck requires delivering what the military guys call “top cover.”..”

“..put yourself out on a limb and get buy-in lower down the hierarchy….”

“…meet data head on….”

“…a gokiburi (cockroach) president scurries around getting into everything around him….”

“…set ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goals’ and spark your organization…”

“…decrease dependence on ingrained knowledge…”

“…organization as process, not structure…”

“…observe things ‘on-site’ and apply knowledge at operating level…”

“…create ‘surprise’ products, not just ones that ‘beat’ others….”

“…a feeling of responsibility to use company resources for the good of society…”

“…open information for operating level creativity, not control…”

“Do Business with Commoners as well as Lords”

“Incompleteness is not seen as a sign of weakness, but as a window on future opportunities.”

“..never present ideas at 100% completion – set a lower limit…”

Debate Spaces

“…view your motivation to run the business from a user perspective…”

Long-Term Focused Rewards

Create Development Centers

“…work with those you know to navigate highly non-linear development processes…”

“don’t wait for instructions, steal whatever you can from your superiors, and then think for yourselves!”

When employees feel safe they are more inclined to embrace change.

“….striving towards mastery, based on concrete, visible steps…..”

Alter Power Heirarchies

“…international exposure can help would-be innovators to recalibrate perspectives and see new opportunities….”

“…outsiders can bring new ideas, bypass ingrained mindsets, link previously disparate areas etc etc…….”

Drop Two Rungs

“How much learning is permitted? How much learning is stimulated?”

“…support key employees with lengthy sabbaticals for the purposes of going ‘their way’…”

In-house Entrepreneurs

“…they view their company as a kind of sponsor….”

Project Based Employment

No Walls (Literally)

Reject False Dichotomies

“..when you personally have to take responsibility for your work, you can’t be that cavalier about it….”

“…don’t become bound to something “that you have no idea of whether you will be able to fulfill or not”…”

“Interestingly Different”

What is your Consumer Logic?

“..real not token involvement for foreign employees..”

Awards Breed Communication and Understanding

Compare Technology Aims

Group Based Incentives

Create “District Station Masters”

“…walls need to be taken down and people need to be shown that they are all working for the same goals…”

Break up tightly coupled areas of the company….

“…’shared division of labor’ is employed in the innovation process of Japanese organizations….”

Give Tangible Form to Ideas

Uncover New Values by Doing

“…allow people to make changes to the system, however small….”

No Longer Servants of the State

“….crisis gives rise to new ideas, revolutionary products and systems for organizational renewal.”

“..Now 21 – probe younger employees…”

Delegate (Credibly)

“…paying by ability to perform a job encourages flexibility, breadth of knowledge, and the ability to problem-solve over more than one area of the firm….”

Learning by Intrusion

Information Redundancy

Reduce Workload by 30%

Focus on Productivity

Develop Sushi Chefs