Instead of Making Excuses, Think About Getting Things Done

Instead of Making Excuses, Think About Getting Things Done

Taiichi Ohno

There was a time when my coach visited the plant. The main machine was down, and I made an excuse: “The machine happened to be down.”

He laughed.

“Stop making excuses. How often do you think I come and the machine happened to be down? This is not a miracle. The machine is frequently down.”

That line stayed with me.

Because he was right, of course. We are very good at making excuses. The market is bad. The customer is unclear. The process is too complex. The people aren’t ready. The timing isn’t ideal. Blah-blah-blah.

Excuses can feel practical in the moment. They can even sound responsible. They look smart. To some degree, people are looking for an excuse that is acceptable to their boss. But most of the time, they do one thing very well: they protect us from accountability.

And accountability is uncomfortable. It forces us to ask better questions:

• What can I control?

• What is actually broken?

• What can be improved today?

What is the next smallest step?

That’s the heart of Kaizen: not perfect conditions, not perfect systems, not perfect people. Just steady improvement, one step at a time.

Excuses vs. Progress

Excuses keep the story centered on what happened to us.

Progress shifts the story to what we do next.

When a machine goes down, the real question isn’t, “How do I explain this?” The real question is, “Why did it go down, how often does it go down, and what can we change so it goes down less?”

That mindset changes everything.

A problem is not a verdict. It’s information.

A delay is not the end. It’s a signal.

A failure is not identity. It’s feedback.

The people who improve the most are not the ones who never run into trouble. They’re the ones who refuse to let trouble become an excuse.

The Habit of Asking Better Questions

Excuse-making is often just lazy thinking in disguise. It is easier to narrate events than to examine them.

Getting things done requires a different habit:

• Name the problem clearly.

• Separate facts from assumptions.

• Look for patterns, not one-off stories.

• Focus on the true cause.

• Take action, even if the action is small.

This is where many teams get stuck. They spend too much energy describing the obstacle and too little energy reducing it.

A better culture doesn’t punish every problem. It teaches people how to respond to problems without hiding behind them.

Kaizen Today

At the end of the day, the useful question is simple:

What did I Kaizen today?

Not:

• What excuse did I make today?

• What did I complain about today?

• Who did I blame today?

But:

• What did I improve?

• What did I learn?

• What became a little easier, faster, safer, or better?

That question keeps us honest.

It also keeps us moving.

You don’t need a perfect day to make progress. You need a willingness to see reality as it is, and then improve it.

So the next time something goes wrong, pause before reaching for the excuse. Ask instead:

What is the next useful action?

That question is where momentum begins.