Intention

CHAPTER 19High Performers Are Focused on the Right Things

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life—think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.”

—Swami Vivekananada

In 1936, Eiji Toyoda, a recent mechanical engineering graduate, started work at his cousin's manufacturing plant. His cousin was Kiichiro Toyoda, who had created what would later become the Toyota Motor Corp. Kiichiro initially intended to take over his family's mechanical loom business, but lost out on the position to his brother-in-law. Deciding instead to focus on building world-class cars, Kiichiro recruited his cousin Eiji to help with operations. And help he did.

By the 1950s, Eiji had become central to the company's operations. He was hyper-focused on understanding how to scale production while improving quality and efficiency. To understand what it took to be world-class in the field, Eiji visited the Ford Motor Co.'s River Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan.¹ He was astounded by what he saw. While Toyota had produced a total of 2,500 cars in its 13 years of existence, that single Ford plant manufactured 8,000 vehicles per day. Per day! Eiji went back to Japan and turned their tiny car manufacturing operation into what would later become the backbone of the second-largest world economy.

Much of Toyota's success can be attributed to Eiji's unique way of ...