6.8.2 Recognizing a Problem

You need to be aware that a problem or oppor­tunity exists before you can solve it or take advantage of it. It is from the information gathered in analyzing the environment that you will learn that a problem or opportunity exists. Often, however, the problem solver has only a vague feeling that something is wrong or that an opportunity exists. A gestation period seems to occur in which information from the environment is processed subconsciously and the existence of a problem or opportunity eventually registers at the conscious level. For example, when Mikio Kitano, Toyota's production guru, began analyzing the firm's manufacturing cost information in the early 1990s, he intuitively sensed that something was wrong. The firm simply wasn't saving as much money, as it should from all of the automation and robotization that it had just completed. He believed it was because robots were being used when human beings could do the job just as well, at less cost. Other top managers doubted him, but in the end he proved that he was right saving Toyota millions of dollars in unnecessary investment.