At Toyota, problems are treated like treasures. But what can you do if problems remain hidden….how can you solve invisible problems? Here’s a story for leaders to understand why this happens and what they can do about it.

Execution requires excellent alignment and coordination of activities. When the people executing cannot communicate or understand each other, there will be delays, workarounds and corrections.

Misunderstandings lead to unwanted costs. May I suggest, PDCA? PDCA is a powerful concept tracing back to the scientific method, adopted by Deming, Shewhart and widely used at Toyota. It stands for Plan, Do Check and Act and it embodies a cycle that drives learning and continuous improvement.

If acronyms were invented to shorten concepts and words - perhaps to save time - or as a convenient way to communicate, please beware: in our global, multicultural context these grammatical devices are creating huge costs.