My ‘Epilogue’ of Mr Uda’s Book ‘Obligation to Dissent: Why Organization Fails’ – 1

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I introduced in my posting of May 26th, this year, a new book ‘Obligation to Dissent: Why Organization Fails’ by Mr Sakon Uda, who served Project Manager of NAIIC. In this book, I contributed a 20 pages ‘Epilogue’. With permission of the Publisher, I will share my Epilogue with you.

Epilogue, ‘Obligation to Dissent’: What We Citizens Should Do Now
Kiyoshi Kurokawa, Chair of the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC)

The Message of Mr. Uda’s Book

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident was unparalleled in history and was on the same scale as the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. In the aftermath of the accident, many investigations and research reports were presented both in and outside of Japan. However, how have TEPCO and the Japanese government responded since then? The Japanese public must be wondering, what is really occurring now and what are TEPCO and the Japanese government doing about it?

Particularly, regarding the subsequent leakage of contaminated water from the power plant, many people in the Japanese public must be appalled by the lack of planning, the poor response and the lack of transparency throughout the decision making process by both TEPCO and the government. Around the world, experts in the field have been critical and major news agencies have often reported on the lack of planning and responsibility taken by TEPCO and the government.

What should we do? We must think about this. As this major accident was historically unprecedented, the difficulty in formulating a strategy is understandable. A solution will not simply arise by merely offering criticism. So then, what should we do? This is where we must bring together our knowledge and wisdom.

Throughout his career as a consultant, Mr. Uda, the author of this book, has advised on the reform of private sector companies. Moreover, starting with the privatization of the Japanese Post Service, he also has considerable experience diving into public sector organizations and pushing forward reforms.
In this book, Mr. Uda has presented the problem of being fixed in a certain mindset, which he faced in the post service reform and when leading the investigation as the Managing Director of Investigation of NAIIC. Not to be mistaken, this understanding was not derived from reductionist theories on Japan, such as “Nihonjin-ron” or “collectivism” but rather from a professional standpoint, which developed out of Mr. Uda’s extensive work in organizational reform and was informed by many examples observed throughout his consulting career.

→ My ‘Epilogue’ of Mr Uda’s Book ‘Obligation to Dissent: Why Organization Fails’ – 1
→ My ‘Epilogue’ of Mr Uda’s Book ‘Obligation to Dissent: Why Organization Fails’ – 2
→ My ‘Epilogue’ of Mr Uda’s Book ‘Obligation to Dissent: Why Organization Fails’ – 3
→ My ‘Epilogue’ of Mr Uda’s Book ‘Obligation to Dissent: Why Organization Fails’ – 4
→ My ‘Epilogue’ of Mr Uda’s Book ‘Obligation to Dissent: Why Organization Fails’ – 5
→ My ‘Epilogue’ of Mr Uda’s Book ‘Obligation to Dissent: Why Organization Fails’ – 6 (1)
→ My ‘Epilogue’ of Mr Uda’s Book ‘Obligation to Dissent: Why Organization Fails’ – 6 (2)
→ My ‘Epilogue’ of Mr Uda’s Book ‘Obligation to Dissent: Why Organization Fails’ – 7
→ My ‘Epilogue’ of Mr Uda’s Book ‘Obligation to Dissent: Why Organization Fails’ – 8

Stating Different Opinions, Asking for Different Opinions (‘Obligation to Dissent’)

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In what was a legislative first for Japan, the independently run NAIIC (Dec 8, 2100-July 5, 2012) submitted a report to both the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament of Japan or the National Diet. Although the report was well-received and acclaimed overseas, within Japan, it was treated as an ‘inconvenient truth’, or more dishearteningly, elicited little response.

At the same time, I have talked here about how young people are increasingly active in setting up innovative initiatives.

Recently, Sakon Uda, who had agreed to taking a position that would put him in charge of the NAIIC as its ‘project manager’, has published a new book, “Naze ‘Iron’ No Denai Soshiki wa Machigau No Ka” (Why Organizations Without Dissent Make Mistakes), (A blog post in Japanese).

I have had the opportunity to add a small commentary section of around 20 pages to this book, where I have voiced my opinion about governance and accountability.

This book does not limit itself to commentary about the NAIIC, but instead tackles questions that are commonly observed in Japanese organisational behaviour. These include questions about Groupthink and Accountability, to name a few.

It is an enlightening read and I hope all of you find the time to read this book.