Virtue and Law

Since I discussed Confucius, I'll mention one more point.

After Confucius's death, his students eventually split into two groups.

The initial group concentrated on “Virtue.”

The second group concentrated on “Law.”

Let’s consider the following;

Virtue involves humaneness, justice, discipline, wisdom, and trust.

Law involves standards and rules.

TPS is built on the balance of the two. While many focus on the “Virtue” aspect of the system, the “Law” provides additional power. This extra power is then utilized with the “Virtue.”

Saints do not manage TPS. Ordinary people run it.

After Confucius died, his students spread out across ancient China and eventually formed two groups. The first focused on “Virtue,” while the other emphasized the “Law.” Historically, the “Law” group gained power first. The Qin Dynasty employed the “Law” group, took control of China, and became the First Emperor. However, the Qin’s strict laws led to rebellion. After the First Emperor’s death, China descended into chaos and war. The victor of this conflict was the Han Dynasty, which adopted the “Virtue” approach. The Han Dynasty became one of China's longest-lasting dynasties. So, can we say that the winner is the “Virtue”? It’s hard to say. One of the most critical contributors to Han was Xiao He, who, upon entering the Qin capital, acquired the Qin's documents, which became a significant benefit to Han.

The lesson I learned from this is that law without virtue is hell, and virtue without law is chaos. The harsh laws of the Qin led to rebellion. In contrast, traditional bad habits kept virtue in check during the Han. Balance is always important.

This crash of virtue and law occurs in daily operations.

There was a 5S violation. Immediately, the factory began discussing the need for 5S training or additional discipline training. But we examined the violation itself—the operator moved the material to a different location to follow the standardized work. It was not a violation. The issue was that the 5S was not being followed according to the standardized work. The organization’s rule was incorrect. I often encountered such issues in other areas like quality, maintenance, logistics, etc. More than likely, I found rules that are impossible to follow or that don’t exist.

There are also opposite cases. An operator requested a day off due to personal difficulties. According to the rules, this reason was not acceptable. HR stated that it was not acceptable. However, the supervisor allowed the operator to take the day off. In a similar situation elsewhere, the supervisor shouted over the phone that the absence was unacceptable according to the rules. The operator was yelled at during a personally difficult moment and then left the company.

It is easy to blame the difference in personalities. That may not be the correct thinking. The first supervisor lives in the Kaizen system. Kaizen has generated satisfactory results. The management fully respected the people’s importance, so they reallocated freed workers. Some worked on Kaizen, some on training, and others worked on the lines to meet increasing demand. When there was a personal difficulty, the system could cover it. The other supervisor was living in the chaos of waste. Was it possible to protect the personal challenges? He doesn’t know, and he was never treated like that. His day-to-day operations are like a gamble. He only knows that headcount is like chips on a gambling table; the more he has, the more chances he gets. He doesn’t know how much waste or work is contained within the headcount. He yelled because that was the only thing he knew.

TPS is operated by ordinary people, not by saints or 【君子】. We should strive to develop ourselves into 【君子】. And during the process of learning, we will face difficulties and mistakes. We need to approach those with virtue. But that virtue does not come by magic or personality. It comes from Kaizen & standardized work. The virtue generated from adding cost will disappear quickly with a change in the economy. Kaizen & standardized work, or the law, is the only way to protect and promote virtue.