Laura Kriska, the First American Woman to Work at Honda HQ in Japan

My guest for Episode #423 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Laura Kriska, a Cross-Cultural Consultant and the author of the book The Business of We: The Proven Three-Step Process for Closing the Gap Between Us and Them in Your Workplace. Notes: https://www.leanblog.org/423 She was previously my guest on Episode 61 of the “My Favorite Mistake” podcast. Laura was previously the author of the book The Accidental Office Lady: An American Woman in Corporate Japan, a book about her time as the first American woman to work for Honda in Tokyo, Japan. We talk about those experiences and so much more today. Topics and questions: How did you get to become the first American woman to work at Honda HQ in Japan?  What was it like working in the Ohio factory?  Quality Circles Kaizen — We can always do things better What was an “office lady”? Adjustments to the Japanese working culture? You initiated a Quality Circle around the uniform for office ladies, tell us about that… “Let's Abolish Women's Uniforms” Use of data? Being careful with assumptions Studied it for a year What was the outcome? You describe Cultural laziness (now, “corporate carelessness”) – what do you mean by that? Can this apply to somebody who is new to a company culture, too?? I hope you enjoy the conversation. The podcast is sponsored by Stiles Associates, now in their 30th year of business. They are the go-to Lean recruiting firm serving the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare industries. Learn more. This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network.