[Thinking] Between procedures and handover

■ A picture is worth a thousand words.

 We sometimes create procedure manuals to take over work, but the most effective way to hand over would be to work together. Sometimes, no matter how detailed the procedures are, they can't beat what can be communicated in a single collaborative effort. In some cases, the procedure manuals is useful for PC work, but in other cases, it may not be as useful as for field work that requires physical exertion.

■ The cost of handing over

 The handing over of the work is very inefficient, and it requires a handing over process like on-the-job training (OJT) similar to Isoroku Yamamoto's wise words of wisdom: 

Show them, tell them, let them try, 
and give them compliments or they don't do anything

 Such a difficult handover task cannot be taken over by several people at once. This is probably more likely to be the case with craftsmanship that requires a high level of skill, and situations are likely to arise in various places where there is a lack of succession. I think that bankruptcies due to lack of successors will become more serious in the future.

■ Between know-how and programs

 There are still elements that cannot be expressed in words in the realm of what is called tacit knowledge or know-how, such as a craftsman's handiwork, a singer's way of singing, or an actor's ability to express himself. Even if there are documents ( procedure manuals ) such as recipes for cooking, sheet music for singing, and scripts for acting that can be handed over in a way that makes no difference to anyone's performance, there is a big difference in performance depending on the experience and skills of the person performing the work. And the differences are unique and cannot be explained in words, or even if they can be explained, they cannot be imitated.

 If you have a job that has been handed down orally, as in the case of the Biwa Master, it may be a good idea to break it down into smaller pieces, break it down into procesures, automate what can be automated, and pass on the know-how to the next person who can take over the job.

【 Japanese version 】