[quote="ConsFWI have not seen any evidence supporting your assertions. Why do you think that David Richards' departure from Honda was due to him not adhering to some so-called "Honda Way?" What makes you think Nick Fry is (or would like to be) going against the "Corporate Big Wigs?" You seem to suggest that Nick Fry is being held back by some oppressive corporate culture.
Do you happen to have a copy of "The Honda Way" that I could look at? I haven't been able to find that anywhere. Is it a little red book given to each Honda employee or something? Also, what exactly is a "typically japanese ways of working?" I'm not sure what you meant by that.[/quote]
Firstly I'm not suggesting that Nick Fry is being held back at all, nor am I suggesting that he is or would want to work against the corporate big wigs, quite the opposite in fact. I'm suggesting that he works in a way which is liked by the board members, i.e he does as he is told.
I never said there is a little red book called the Honda Way so lets not twist my words shall we? (However there IS a little red book given to all empolyees at Toyota Called the Toyota Way seeing as you like being pedantic)
I see quite a profound eveidence to support my claims that Honda and Toyota are working in a way that does not ally 100% to efficiant running of an F1 team - their success verges on none at all, despite budgets bigger than that od Renault. In fact compared to Renault their lack of success is catastrophic.
Also I'd appriciate not leaving stsements like "I wonder what you meant by that?" [regarding a Typical Japanese way of working] - it sounds as if your trying to suggest that I am applying a racial stereotype to a culture, and I don't appreciate that.
What I DID mean by that was, in Japan there is a method of working which is HUGELY successful (look at how the Japanese Car Industry almost took over the world in just 30-40years, in the 1990's Car makers in the USA & Italy were producing 14 and 6cars per empolyee per annum - in Japan this figure was 46. That's simply astonishing.) This method of working is summed up in the "Toyota Way" at Toyota. It is a corporate methodology which works great for big buisness, I was simply suggesting that it does not work well for an F1 team - a much smaller outfit.
So what does this have to do with Honda? Well, I personally see some similarities between Honda & Toyota, just as thy seem to be making progress, they slip back down again - look at Honda sacking Geoff Willis, and replacing him with a man with no F1 experience who later admits "I Need Help". My theory is that descisions at Honda & Toyota are made by a commitiee, so when David Richards & Geoff Willis (two expierienced and qualified F1 men) what to do things thier way and the commitiee votes against them, they are told "If you don't like our way of working, leave." The same could be said about Mike Gascoiyne's departure from Toyota.
Basically what I'm saying is that at Toyota I believe that F1 descisions are not being made by the F1 people, they are being made by the Board Members - the similarities that I personally see between the performance of Toyota and Honda suggests to me that this may also be the case at Honda.
Also the reason i think Dave Richards was sacked by not following this corporate methodology is purely because I see no other reason to suggest why he was fired. Your post about how Nick Fry lobbied for Richards departure could actually back up my claim in one way: It says in your post that Nick Fry tried to give the team a corportae image. My personal opinion is that it wasn't so much Fry doing this, but Honda, and Fry agrees with this way of working where as Richards did not. Hence the replacement of Richards with Fry.
Finally ConsFW, your post was well written, thought out and in general a great post, maybe I read into it wrongly, but it gave me the impression that because my own opninon (which I'm entitled to as much as your are to yours) differed from yours, you believe mine to be wrong, your post made me feel like you were trying to belittle me:
Do you happen to have a copy of "The Honda Way" that I could look at? I haven't been able to find that anywhere.
And also gave me the impression that you were sugesting me to be a racist or something:
Also, what exactly is a "typically japanese ways of working?" I'm not sure what you meant by that.
If that's not what you intended then I'm sorry, its my misunderstanding. If that is was you intended I'm appalled.
Silence is golden when you don't know a good answer.
