So, another of the mighty has fallen. From industry darling to dirtbag in a few weeks. Clearly they need to address some issues. I remember a few years back we had an issue with the engine sludging on our van. They weren’t very helpful, initially, but we got it worked out. Now, this seeming trend continues with the recent allegations of poor corporate conduct.

Are we so shallow and short-sighted? I can hear it now, “Throw out lean manufacturing.” etc etc. I hope not. These principles have revolutionized industry and there is much to be said for them. I hope we don’t overreact – as many pundits and writers are right now.

Only time will tell if there was misconduct. If there was systemic corporate misconduct then it must be addressed by our legal system. I just have a hard time with everyone beating up Toyota when for years they were singing their praises. Yes, someone can change their tune but like I said, there was alot of good done there and I think we would do well to retain it.

Southwest Airlines is another business darling. How about Apple? All in good graces right now. Starbucks? Hmm, they are kind of in the middle right now. Former industry darling, ran into some turbulence, working to regain their mojo (in a cup of joe)(sorry, I had to do that!). Tiger Woods? Still a good golfer.

You get the point. All or nothing evaluations and opinions are rarely valid. When evaluating an employee they are never quite as good or quite as bad as you think they are. When looking at an opportunity do you see the entire picture or only the parts of it you want to see?

Toyota will recover. They will be fine, eventually. People beat up Ford and GM for years, I guess it isn’t their turn this week.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 1:59 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.