Copy

“Copy Toyota.” “Don’t copy Toyota.”

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For the Japanese, “copy” or “imitate” is closely associated with learning.

One of these words is “Manabu 【学ぶ】.” It means to study. You get coached or learn from your experiences. This word comes from “Mane-bu,” which means to copy, mainly just the motion or behaviors. “Maneru 【真似る】” is another word that comes from the exact origin, meaning to simulate, copy, imitate, follow, or emulate.

There is another word called “Narau 【習う】.” This word originates from “Narau 【倣う】,” which means to copy. Based on the meaning of copy, it developed into “Narau 【慣らう】,” meaning to get used to. So, this word also means to learn and repeat practice to acquire skills. By experiencing, it becomes a habit. (Habit is Shukan 【習慣】, which combines the two characters.) This also signifies becoming familiar or close to something.

The combination of the two symbols is Gakushu 【学習】, which means ‘learn.’

There is a deeper discussion about whether “Maneru” or “Narau” means “copy,” “imitate,” or “simulate,” and whether they mean the same thing. However, the Japanese see a connection between copying and some form of learning.

But there are some nuances in these words.

1️⃣ Teacher

Both words imply the presence of a teacher to learn from. “Manabu 【学ぶ】” does involve learning through experience. But generally, there is a teacher.

But what does “teacher" truly mean? Does it involve showing respect and calling them “Sensei”? Yes, culturally, we do respect teachers. But that isn’t the most important aspect in our world.

“Show me your Genba.” That was my coach’s phrase. He knows some who never let him visit their Genba but call him the teacher. He didn’t think those were his students. And when he was at Genba, tough feedback was inevitable. Challenge is everywhere. And those who run away from such coaching are not in a teacher-student relationship.

There is an interview with Taiichi Ohno, in which he told a new plant, “Please become a workplace where I can become seriously mad.”

2️⃣ Subject of Copy

What should we imitate? The tools? The formats? The words? No, the behavior.

“Go to Genba.” This was the first behavior I copied. I was standing close to the line when my coach said, “You are not at the Genba.” Confused, I followed him. I tried to stay right behind him to see what he was observing. Oh, now I observe what the operator is really doing. Then, I followed.

Kaizen. It's another behavior we should adopt. Once, the coach saw the operator struggling, so he checked what was causing the difficulty. He made a Kaizen. Did he go to the board to review the KPIs? Did he calculate the savings? No, he simply made a Kaizen because the operator was struggling.

When the coach is on the Genba, does he follow the tour or the standard path? No. Is he wandering around? No. He's trying to respond to the business needs and improve the business. Sometimes he visits retail shops to find ways to improve production that supports the business. I imitate this behavior by wandering around, looking for ways to respond to the business needs.

3️⃣ Kaizen

Kaizen is more than just an improvement. It's not merely an activity. It is a way to communicate what the student has learned. No matter the lesson, it should be demonstrated through Kaizen.

I got into trouble with my coach many times. In all these cases, the Kaizen didn’t reflect what I learned. The results improved; KPIs were doing well. But if the Kaizen didn't meet expectations, I was in trouble. Especially when I copied something without understanding the philosophy, I found myself in trouble. Please don’t copy without understanding the philosophy, or keep questioning what it is.

4️⃣ Copy back

Every once in a while, I noticed my coach was following me. I thought I was in serious trouble. He didn’t explain why he was following, and he tracked me for a couple of hours. When I finished, he asked, “What did you grasp? You are doing something different, but I can’t tell.” So, he was trying to imitate me. Taiichi Ohno mentioned the competition between bosses and their subordinates. This kind of competition should be welcomed. As we say, “Don’t copy the Kaizen. Make it better.”

So, copy, imitate, mimic, or emulate. English has many words with similar meanings. As a Japanese learner, those words are connected to learning. And that’s not wrong. Look at babies who copy what adults do. They learn by copying. Of course, we shouldn’t be doing baby-like copying forever, but it’s a good starting point. We should not become copycats; instead, we should learn by doing.