Ch 18 — Constructive Temperament

Dr. Abdul Jalil from New Delhi visited Japan in 1970 and stayed there for six months. In a meeting on October 14, 1984, he recounted an experience: he was residing in Tokyo and would regularly travel to a particular destination, a fifteen-minute journey by train from Tokyo.

One day, Dr. Jalil boarded a train in Tokyo as usual, but after fifteen minutes, his desired station had still not arrived. When the train stopped at a station, he checked the board and saw it was the wrong one. Concerned that he might have boarded the wrong train, he noticed a young Japanese man standing nearby. However, there was a language barrier; Dr. Jalil didn’t speak Japanese, and the young man didn’t understand English. Dr. Jalil wrote down the name of his station on a piece of paper and showed it to the young man.

As the train had just started moving but had not left the platform, the young man immediately pulled the emergency chain, stopping the train. He then guided Dr. Jalil out of the train and, without a word, walked him to a train that was going in the opposite direction. He sat with Dr. Jalil on the new train, which departed shortly. In a few minutes, they arrived at the station Dr. Jalil was trying to reach. The young man then saw him off and continued on his journey. Throughout this entire incident, there was no verbal communication because of the language barrier.

This is what is known as a constructive temperament, a trait that ensures the progress and success of nations. Conversely, a society in which individuals only think of themselves and disregard others can never achieve significant improvement.

COLLECTIVE ACTION

Japanese teamwork is the greatest secret behind their national development. Greater progress is always achieved when a large number of individuals work together. Unity is the way to attain substantial development. Unity transforms one into many, amplifying the effort exponentially.

American shipyards take 16 months to build a 50,000-ton tanker, while in Spain, it takes 24 months to complete the same tanker. However, Japanese shipbuilders managed to construct it in just eight months.

What is the secret behind this Japanese miracle? Western experts, after a thorough examination, have identified the primary reason as teamwork. Japanese workers, managers, and officers work in extreme unity. Their collaboration remains intact at every stage of the process, resulting in high-quality products delivered in less time.