“It’s important to create Kaizen culture.”
I see many posts like that.
Nothing is wrong with such a statement. Two words are translated as culture when we read Ohno and other Japanese books. Do we know the difference?
Those two words are; “Bunka【文化】” and “Fudo【風土】.”
“Bunka【文化】” is the word to translate culture. “Bun【文】” means sentence and represents writing and documents. Because of that, “Bun” means the opposite of the use of force. This has essential meaning for Confucianism since they think the “Bun” is more important than the military. Therefore, “Bunka【文化】” means to “civilize” or “educate” the people without the use of military power. The latter symbol means to change. The left side represents the human, and the right is the point symmetry. It represents a transformation of people.
“Bunka【文化】” became popular after the Meiji era, which began in 1868. During this time, Japan was Westernizing, and Bunka was selected as the translation for its culture. If this was a language class and I were to choose a word for “culture,” this would be the answer.
“Fudo【風土】” might be better translated as climate or environment. The first symbol is the wind, while the second is the soil. However, the climate impacts our culture, so we relate this “Fudo【風土】” to culture. In the 8th century, the Japanese government collected information about local culture and hearsay. This was called Fudo-ki【風土記】.
Here, the wind【風】means more. It also represents social movement or conditions. For example, “custom” will be translated as Fushu【風習】, a combination of wind and learn. It is strange, but that is how it is in Japan. I believe this “wind” will make sense if we understand the concept of “Ba.”
In today's Japanese corporate world, both are used as “culture.”
Corporate “Bunka【文化】” typically means a similar action model or values within a company—a focus on human behaviors.
Corporate “Fudo【風土】” typically refers to the work environment, such as the organization's structure and system, policies, or atmosphere, which impacts human behaviors. This is seen as something more challenging to change.
The critical question here is which one is Toyota using?
I don’t have statistics.
Ohno used “Bunka【文化】” once in his book, “Toyota Production System.” “Fudo【風土】” was used in several locations. I was reading some articles and comments from Akio Toyoda and Koji Sato, and both were referring to “Fudo【風土】.” This page is for recruiting in Japan, and the link uses “culture” while the web name is “Fudo【風土】.”
So, it seems Toyota prefers to use “Fudo【風土】” more than “Bunka【文化】.” Why?
The first hypothesis is that they want to separate or keep some distance between local culture and the working “climate.” For example, in Japan, there is a work schedule called the “Toyota calendar.” This annual work calendar ignores all national holidays except for critical ones. Instead of taking some three-day weekends, they take vacations for two weeks three times a year. This way, they will not have a short working week. All week is five days long, which levels all work, including those at management (No guessing on a short week. Weekly output is leveled.). The locals are so used to this schedule. Schools and stores are designed to handle Toyota and the group's employee behaviors to the Toyota calendar.
The more important reason is to avoid individual blame games. When we talk about “culture,” there is a tendency to blame a person who behaves negatively: “That guy is not good.” There is always such a person, and the discussion is focused on the individual. Eventually, a decision will be made about terminating that individual’s work. The question is, did the culture change after such termination? My observation is no. Nothing “changed.” That is because the environment that created the lousy behavior remains. We are just waiting for the next victim. Yes, some leaders can come in and change the culture. But we shouldn’t require charisma for all positions. Instead, we should look into the “winds” and the “soils” around us to understand why we behaved the way we did.
“Culture” does not have a universal definition. Don’t abuse.