The nail that sticks out gets hammered in. Since beginning to work for WIN Advisory and doing research for this web site, I have seen this statement and its variations dozens of times. In any variation, it immediately strikes a chord, a chord that says to my American sense of individualism, “Why would anyone want to work for a Japanese company? Why would anyone want to work for an organization where if you dare to stick out, you will be hammered in, or made to conform?” 

Perhaps you've heard that working for a Japanese company is all about being part of a team, all about working, winning and losing (hopefully not) as a member of a group. You may wonder if you can and should work for such a company.

And yet . . . taking a closer look . . . is this push to conform an attribute of only Japanese business?  Or are the Japanese simply more honest and up-front about wanting everyone to follow the established plan? 

Are Americans, working for American businesses, free from pressure to conform?  Do American managers vocally encourage individualism and creativity, all the while actually rewarding employees who conform to their standards, to what they (the managers) think is right, to what must be done to keep the bottom line favorable.

During my tenure at a quasi-governmental agency, I experienced and observed substantial evidence that pressure to conform is alive and well in at least some American workplaces. But it is a subtle, insidious, kind of pressure, one that demoralizes. I frequently saw bright, creative individuals in interviews and new on the job filled with energy and enthusiasm. They believed they could make improvements. They were hired and encouraged to make those improvements. A year later, I saw the same employee, quiet, apathetic, going through the motions, filling time. Their ideas, even though verbally encouraged, were ignored because they didn’t fit in with the status quo, or they didn’t agree with the boss's way of doing things. Their enthusiasm had been effectively quashed. These "hammered in" employees left quickly or continued on the job, never offering much, collecting a paycheck, waiting for a pension. Their expectation of being rewarded for “standing out” was not met.

Employees, myself included, were frequently called to task, or even fired, because they openly expressed opinions or took actions which were not in line with current management (or their immediate supervisor's) philosophy.  Don’t we live in the land of individual expression? Along with a title, we have a certain level of authority, don't we?  However, the promotions and raises were routinely awarded, not for creativity, not for effectiveness on the job, but for loyalty to the boss or to the status quo. 

Maybe you think I’m just complaining and that's a possibility. Maybe you think incidents of the type described are limited to the public sector, but in my frequent contact with private sector employees, I heard many similar stories. I prefer to think that the core of the problem lies with the difference between expectations and reality. I took a job because I believed I would be rewarded for being creative and having lots of new ideas and being able to implement them. I was encouraged to be an individual, but saw the rewards going to those who conformed.

When you go to work for a Japanese company, you expect to work as part of a team. You expect that your input will be sought; however, your ideas may not be implemented. You know that going in.

If you’re destined to be the next Thomas Edison, looking to start the next Google, or simply flunked Works and Plays Well With Others 101, you probably won’t fit in at a Japanese company. In all likelihood, you won’t fit in at an American business either. 

If you’re looking for a satisfying career where your input and opinion will be sought and your buy-in will be required before final action is taken, take another look at that Japanese company. Read an Interview with WIN President Sada Honda:  Why Work for a Japanese Company? Think about whether working for the Japanese company really requires more conforming than American employers. Or, is it your expectation that is different?

And, consider this. That nail sticking out isn’t really doing much good.  Perhaps it rips your clothing or scratches your arm. The nail in place is doing it’s part of the valuable job of holding your house together.

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