English translation: “The mouth is the source of disaster.”
Running our mouths tends to get us into trouble, doesn’t it? The saying is a reminder to, more or less, shut your trap. Because sometimes, it’s better to not say anything at all.
Sensei Chihiro Nakao has a saying when he is trying to demonstrate the importance of learning about your business from a gemba kaizen mindset – “Thinking by using hands, looking by using feet”.
Don’t just run your mouth about all of the things that you know, put those things into action and go see how the work is happening before you assume you know what is true and what to change.
Having a kaizen mindset is more than just trying to make higher revenues so you can brag about them, it is about improving the conditions of the work, at the place where the work happens, with those that actually do the work.
Steve Beauchamp 