32 Quotes by Akio Morita
Akio Morita was a Japanese businessman and co-founder of Sony Corporation. He is widely regarded as a pioneer of the electronics industry and played a key role in developing numerous groundbreaking technologies, including the transistor radio and the compact disc. Morita was also a strong advocate for globalization and believed that cultural exchange was essential for promoting understanding and peace between nations. Throughout his career, he demonstrated a commitment to innovation, creativity, and a deep understanding of consumer needs. (Bio)
Akio Morita Quotes
Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. But make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice. (Meaning)
I believe one of the reasons we went through such a remarkable growth period was that we had this atmosphere of free discussion.
You can be totally rational with a machine. But if you work with people, sometimes logic often has to take a backseat to understanding.
Curiosity is the key to creativity.
A company will get nowhere if all of the thinking is left to management.
But make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice.
If you go through life convinced that your way is always best, all the new ideas in the world will pass you by.
In the long run, no matter how good or successful you are or how clever or crafty, your business and its future are in the hands of the people you hire.
Carefully watch how people live, get an intuitive sense as to what they might want and then go with it. Don’t do market research.
Never break another man’s rice bowl.
The public does not know what is possible. We do.
I believe it is a big mistake to think that money is the only way to compensate a person for his work. People need money, but they also want to be happy in their work and proud of it.
The “patron saint” of Japanese quality control, ironically, is an American named W. Edwards Deming, who was virtually unknown in his own country until his ideas of quality control began to make such a big impact on Japanese companies.
Once you have a staff of prepared, intelligent, and energetic people, the next step is to motivate them to be creative.
Americans make money by playing `money games,’ namely mergers, acquisitions, by simply moving money back and forth … instead of creating and producing goods with some actual value.
My solution to the problem of unleashing creativity is always to set up a target. The best example of this was the Apollo project in the United States.
My chief job is to constantly stir or rekindle the curiosity of people that gets driven out by bureaucracy and formal schooling systems.
I established the rule that once we hire an employee, his school records are a matter of the past and are no longer used to evaluate his work or decide on his promotion.
There is no secret ingredient or hidden formula responsible for the success of the best Japanese companies.
The only sure thing is that in business there are no sure things.
Japanese attitudes toward work seem to be critically different from American attitudes.
The important thing in my view is not to pin the blame for a mistake on somebody, but rather to find out what caused the mistake.
America looks 10 minutes ahead; Japan looks 10 years.
Our plan is to lead the public with new products rather than ask them what kind of products they want.
The company must not throw money away on huge bonuses for executives or other frivolities but must share its fate with the workers.
More people are interested in trying to shuffle paper assets around than building lasting assets by producing real goods.
While the United States has been busy creating lawyers, we have been busier creating engineers.
An enemy of innovation could be your own sales force.
I believe people work for satisfaction.
My solution to the problem of unleashing creativity is always to set up a target.
If you don’t want Japan to buy it, don’t sell it.
The most important mission for a Japanese manager is to develop a healthy relationship with his employees, to create a familylike feeling within the corporation, a feeling that employees and managers share the same fate.
― Akio Morita Quotes
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an impact-driven creator at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 life goals around the globe. Tal's journey and recent book, The Art of Fully Living, inspired him to found Elevate Society.
