I don't think Japanese engineers are too conservative. I can feel the growth in the software development groups, and in individual software engineers. Hardware groups are coming to understand embedded software much better.
True, people do tend to get set in their ways as they get older. Nobody is very surprised when somebody retiring in two years says, "I'm too old. I can't learn new things." Does that mean the person can't do anything any more? I don't think so. The person can transfer wisdom, based on personal experience, to younger people, cooperating with them to achieve a fusion.
Say two men, one 60 years old and the other 30 years old, are building a bridge. The older man might worry that he lacks the energy to build the bridge. But suppose the younger man says, "I'll be the energy, I need your wisdom. You tell me how to build the bridge." That's what communication really is.
Silicon Valley was created by people no older than 30. There are a lot of Japanese that age who need to experience the same process. It would be good for Japan. Why isn't there a Silicon Valley in Japan? It's because there's a strongly established seniority system. You can disagree with me but that's my conclusion.
I don't think that we should get rid of the older engineers. We can break down the seniority system when older and younger generations are fused. After that, we can create better products.
I want our engineers to see that the future is going to be even more interesting, more stimulating, then it ever has been. People are often frightened of change. It is better for engineers to say to themselves every morning, when shaving or combing their hair, "This is a new day and a new adventure; I'm not afraid of adapting to this new world."
I hope Sony engineers, electronics engineers, feel that this new adventure is worth embarking upon, that it's really exciting. You shouldn't get up in the morning and say, "I wish things wouldn't change. I liked the way things used to be." That would indeed be a waste of time.
When things go wrong, like when there's a recession, people often begin talking about "the good old days". The past is no blueprint for the future, though; it's just the past. Some of the Japanese press have criticized me, saying I don't respect Sony tradition, but that certainly is not the case.
The Sony tradition is not to live in the past. The Sony tradition is to embrace the innovation, skills, energy, and excitement of its people for the future. Our co-founder, Akio Morita-san, wasn't looking at the past. He didn't say he created a blueprint that must never change. Quite the contrary: he leveraged his abilities to adapt to the changing environment, and to discover new solutions and new customers around the world.
I keep harping on the importance of adapting to the era because of my own experiences. I saw the collapse of an industry with my own eyes.
When I was growing up in the United Kingdom in the 1940s, England was the biggest exporter of cars and motorcycles in the world. The US made big cars, but the UK made small-engined cars, which sold well. And the sports cars from car makers such as Jaguar, Lotus, MG, Norton, Sunbeam, Triumph, etc, used to win all the races. However, today, the British car and motorcycle industries have dwindled away.
Why did the Japanese car companies succeed? Because the companies in the UK didn't change their ways.
Management and the unions argued all the time, and there was no investment in robots to rationalize production.
There was no product innovation, either. To start the engine on a British motorcycle, you had to kick the starter pedal. On a Japanese motorcycle, though, you just had to turn the ignition key. The Japanese companies were able to enter the market without the hindrance of old customs and other conceptual baggage.
I don't want to say that Japan's consumer electronics industry, including Sony, will end up in the same state as the UK car and motorcycle industries. Japan has plenty of skilled people, and I don't think it will lose out to companies in Korea, Taiwan or China. But unless Japan begins to adapt to change, I don't think God can promise future success.
A very sophisticated question. I used top-down management when I was managing the TV network, and when I was a news editor. But I adopt a different style now. I can't pretend to be a brilliant engineer, after all. I think it is important for management at big companies to tell their employees what management doesn't know in order to get their cooperation.
I've done a lot of jobs that engineers haven't, and watched people working in many different countries. I've been a part of so many different aspects of Sony - content, devices and so on. What I've felt all along is that if everyone just cooperates, we can all do a better job. The age of dictators is over; it's time for people to share their experience.
Japanese engineers are so brilliant. I felt that when I visited Tokyo recently. I had just heard the details of how bad profitability was in our TV business. I was pretty depressed. Hiroshi Yoshioka-san, who was put in charge of televisions from 2008, said he would like to take me out to dinner with some of his young people.
When I got to the restaurant there were about 30 employees there, all young people of around 30 years old or so, from different divisions including TVs, personal computers and so on. They had a box full of questions they'd written. I pulled them out one at a time and answered them. We discussed a lot of the problems that Sony faces.
It was the most fun I'd had in months at Sony. I'm not being political. They were really smart, and so full of energy. All I could think of was how to get them to solve Sony's problems now, instead of waiting until they were 50. Because when they get to be 50 they won't care as much about solving the problems.
If you had been with me at that dinner, you'd agree with me that Japanese companies can again be top in the electronics industry. And these are the people who are going to make it happen.
interviewed by Yasuo Tanokura, Tomohiro Otsuki
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