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# When the Japanese Came to Work in India When the Japanese came to work in India to develop the Maruti Suzuki car, a joke went around that one Indian was equal to 10 Japanese: Indians were very smart, capable and dedicated individuals. But 10 Indians were equal to 1 Japanese: Indians lacked team s...

# When the Japanese Came to Work in India When the Japanese came to work in India to develop the Maruti Suzuki car, a joke went around that one Indian was equal to 10 Japanese: Indians were very smart, capable and dedicated individuals. But 10 Indians were equal to 1 Japanese: Indians lacked team spirit and co-operation. What makes matters even worse is our "crab" mentality - if someone is trying to climb higher and achieve more, the others just drag him down. The signal that the others send out is, "I wouldn't do it; I wouldn't let you do it; and if by chance you start succeeding, we will all gang up and make sure that you don't get to do it." ## The Question is: Where does this attitude come from, and how do we recognize and handle it? Part of the problem is our cultural background. We've had feudal and a hierarchical social system in which whoever is senior supposedly knows the best. This was fine in earlier times when knowledge and wisdom were passed on orally; but in modern society, there is no way that one person can know everything. Today, you may find that a young computer-trained person has more answers for an accounting problem than a senior accountant has. Until we understand how best to leverage this diversity of experience, we will not be able to create and fully utilize the right kind of teams. # Glossary | Term | Definition | |---|---| | Implementation | Execution | | Gang up | To join together in a group | | Dedicated | Committed | | Crab mentality | The metaphor refers to a pot of crabs. Individually, the crabs could easily escape from the pot, but instead, they grab at each other in a useless competition, which prevents any from escaping. Similarly, human beings in a group attempt to pull down any member who achieves success beyond others out of envy. | | Hierarchy | A system of persons or things arranged in a graded order | | Leverage (v) | To use (a quality or advantage) to obtain a desired effect or result |