Ch 25 — Impartiality: The Secret of Success

Pakistan 2 3 4 9

“The Koreans used a computer to select their athletes and spent one million dollars to train them for each discipline for two years. India used familiar hit-or-miss methods in which the old malady of parochialism and nepotism may not have been at a total discount.”

To cut a long story short, the Koreans selected their competitors on the basis of talent, whereas India chose well-connected people. How different could the outcome have been if India had done as Korea did and had fed the necessary data about the potential participants into a computer and allowed the selection to be made with the total disinterestedness and mechanical impartiality that only a computer is capable of? This shows that impartiality is the secret of success, while parochialism and nepotism is an old malady.

LEARNING FROM THE ENEMY

The example of Japan tells us that in this world, great success belongs to those who seek to learn from everyone, whether friend or foe.

In 1949, Japan held an industrial seminar and extended a special invitation to Dr. Edward Deming from the United States. In his lecture, Dr. Deming presented a new theory for achieving high-quality industrial production: the concept of quality control (The Hindustan Times, December 28, 1986).

For Japan, Americans were seen as an enemy nation. In World War II, the United States inflicted a severe defeat and humiliation upon Japan. Given this background, one would expect a lingering bitterness toward America. However, the Japanese rose above such negative feelings. As a result, they were able to invite an American professor to their seminar, calmly consider his advice, and wholeheartedly embrace it.