I consider it my job to nurture the creativity of the people I work with because at Sony we know that a terrific idea is more likely to happen in an open, free and trusting atmosphere than when everything is calculated, every action analysed and every responsibility assigned by an organisation chart.

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.

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.

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.

I knew we needed a weapon to break through to the US market, and it had to be something different, something that nobody else was making.

But make sure you don't make the same mistake twice.