Customer Reviews

Results from the Heart: How Mini-Company Management Captures Everyone's Talents and Helps Them Find Meaning and Purpose at Work

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Taken from the Dalai Lama's foreword:

"I believe we have both the ability and the means to solve our problems and improve our world. Perhaps, the most important factors that inhibit us are short-sightedness, narrow-mindedness, and selfishness. Yet, to look after yourself is not wrong. Without a strong sense of self, we cannot develop self-confidence, determination, and will power.

But we must be careful, for there is also a narrow minded selfishness that can lead to self-destruction. To counter that we have to realize that in reality our own interest is closely linked to the interests of others and the benefit, happiness, and interests of others are our own."

The idea of mini-company is as simple as that! But there may be a deep gap between spirituality and business... I wonder.

I was exposed to Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) throughout the late nineties, therefore the concept of small groups (inherent to the way TPM works) was familiar to me. In "Results from the Heart", Kiyoshi Suzaki, an author of many titles on the famous Japanese manufacturing framework, introduces the concept of Mini-Companies as an extension of the concept of Small Groups.

The tools and components he presents for the internal functioning of Mini-Companies and their interaction with other Mini-Companies across the organization give new life to the concept. This is the true value of the book.

As for the connection of the TPM concepts to finding meaning and purpose at work, the book seems a bit of a stretch, barely touching on the topic. If you really want to read about this, I recommend you try Z.B.A.: Zen of Business Administration - How Zen Practice Can Transform Your Work And Your Life.