Born in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Akio Morita has become one of the most iconic businessmen of this time. He is the creator and founder of Sony Corporation. He began his businesses with only 20 employees and investments from his family. Sony then went on to become the very first Japanese business to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Below are some of the most notable and inspiring quotes from Morita.
“A company will get nowhere if all of the thinking is left to management.”
“Carefully watch how people live, get an intuitive sense as to what they might want and then go with it. Don’t do market research.”
“Curiosity is the key to creativity.”
“Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. But make sure you don’t make the same mistake twice.”
“Executives of the company must have the necessary qualities to direct the personnel by showing them the way to do things.”
In October 1987, Michael Jackson visited Akio Morita at the birthday party of his wife. pic.twitter.com/o9OXxuyOIo
— ~♔ Iηviηcible ♔~ (@xbenotalways) September 2, 2015
“I believe on of the reasons we went through such a remarkable growth period was that we had this atmosphere of free discussion.”
“I believe people work for satisfaction.”
“I believe it is a big mistake to think that money is the only way to compensate a person for his work. People need money, but they also want to be happy in their work and proud of it.”
“I have always made it a point to know our employees, to visit every facility of our company, and to try to meet and know every single employee.”
“In all my years in business I can recall very few people I have wanted to fire for making mistakes.”
“In the United States businessmen often do not trust their colleagues. If you trust your colleague today, he may be your competitor tomorrow, because people frequently move from one company to another.”
“It had to be something different. Something that nobody else was making.”
At 58, Sony chairman Akio Morita introduced the Sony Walkman, an idea no one seemed to like at the time. #GetInspired pic.twitter.com/soE2w2fKku
— Age UK Croydon (@AgeUKCroydon) August 26, 2015
“Japanese attitudes toward work seem to be critically different from American attitudes.”
“Managing is not reigning.”
“More people are interested in trying to shuffle paper assets around than building lasting assets by producing real goods.”
“My solution to the problem of unleashing creativity is always to set up a target. The best example of this was the Apollo project in the United States.”
“No theory, no plan, no system of government can assure the success of an enterprise. Only people can do that.”
“People do not work just for money, and if you are trying to motivate people, money is not the most effective tool.”
“The effect of three things – the new laws, the revision of the tax system, and the elimination of the zaibatsu conglomerates – was to make Japan an egalitarian society for the first time.”
“The important thing in my view is not to pin the blame for a mistake on somebody, but rather to find out what caused the mistake.”
“The investor and the employee are in the same position, but sometimes the employee is more important, because he will be there a long time whereas an investor will often get in and out on a whim in order to make a profit.”
“The most important mission for a Japanese manager is to develop a healthy relationship with his employees, to create a familylike feeling within the corporation, a feeling that employees and managers share the same fate.”
“There are three creativities: creativity in technology, in product planning, and in marketing. To have any one of these without the others is self defeating in business.”
Sony co-founder Akio Morita thought it rude to listen to music in isolation, so created dual headphone jacks! pic.twitter.com/6YgKHlwGl4
— ABC Music (@ABCmusic) June 29, 2015
“There is no secret ingredient or hidden formula responsible for the success of the best Japanese companies.”
“We all learn by imitating, as children, as students, as novices in the world of business. And then we grow up and learn to blend our innate abilities with the rules or principles we have learned.”
“We want to keep the company healthy and its employees happy, and we want to keep them on the job and productive.”
“We will try to create conditions where persons could come together in a spirit of teamwork, and exercise to their heart’s desire their technological capacity.”
“Whatever your capacities are, whatever your successes, your shrewdness, your dexterity, the future of your business is in the hands of the people you have hired.”
“You can be totally rational with a machine. But if you work with people, sometimes logic often has to take a backseat to understanding.”
In the video above you are walked through the incredible journey that Akio Morita went through as he created one of the most successful business in Japan, and the world, Sony.
I hope you have enjoyed these 29 inspiring quotes from the great Akio Morita!
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