When it comes to cars Toyota today symbolizes product excellence; in fact, their quality has become the benchmark for the once proud American automakers to emulate. Yet, it was also an American who taught the Japanese what premium quality is about. That man was G. Edwards Deming. What a paradox. I have heard some people jokingly describe Toyota as the Tiger Woods of the automotive world. Inferring obviously to Woods’ undisputed status as the greatest golfer of all time and whose phenomenal record as an athlete earned him the moniker “Athlete of the Century.” Toyota’s present troubles have also provided ammunition for people to ascribe additional parallel between this once venerable Japanese company and Tiger Woods who is currently battling his own personal predicaments.

Ironically for Tiger Woods his woes were not even about the sport he is so well known for. It was his recklessness in his private affairs. His personal demons are mainly his numerous extra-marital sexual exploits. I’m sure many of you still remember the Reverends Jim Bakker of PTL fame or the charismatic TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. You can include in that circle of marital transgressors the former New York Governor, Elliot Spitzer, Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, and former U.S. presidential hopeful, John Edwards. And often when the subject of sexual indiscretion is the topic, the name of former President Bill Clinton almost always gets dragged into the whole conversation as if he’s the gold standard. Amazingly, these are individuals who have built illustrious careers behind them. They have the intellectual capacity, power, wealth, influence, and fame. But why do so many highly successful individuals like them continue to go astray? Haven’t they learned that the good life requires balance, that extremes must be tempered by moderation?

Last January 21, 2010, the whole world was stunned in disbelief after hearing that Toyota is recalling more than two million vehicles. CNN and the other major news networks reported that an alarming number of people were experiencing a very serious problem with their vehicles – these are mostly Toyota’s top selling brands that include the Corolla, Matrix, Rax4, Avalon, Tundra, Camry, etc. The culprit was a gas pedal that sticks. Imagine driving a car that refuses to stop unless you apply enormous pressure on the brakes. Initially it was thought that the floor mat was obstructing the accelerator pedal and prevents it from retracting. On closer examination, the same problem remained even with the mat removed. Then another problem followed, this one involves their popular hybrid model, the Prius. The issue was faulty brakes. All told, a total of more than eight million vehicles will now be re-called and could cost this company more than two billion dollars. Toyota’s CEO apologized to its millions of customers and appealed for their patience as they try to fix the problem and put this massive nightmare behind.

Not too long ago Toyota, surpassed General Motors as the world’s number one automaker. For more than 40 years, this Japanese company has established an enviable record for building extremely reliable vehicles. So why is Toyota seemingly asleep on the switch? Is a long episode of success the great spoiler that causes an organization such as Toyota or an individual like Tiger Woods to become lackadaisical? I am reminded of a wise thought expressed by Robin Sharma. He said nothing fails like success. He wasn’t inferring that success is a bad thing. It’s definitely good. What he meant was it should not lead us to a false sense of security for this could turn to complacency. Laxness ultimately leads to downfall. Could this be the case inside Toyota today? I guess only those within know.

I believe these are the lessons to be learned from these stories. If you want to keep success, you can’t afford to let your guard down. To maintain a competitive edge, you must continue to improve, work harder and smarter than everyone else. Here’s another. Those that are dominant today could lose that advantage tomorrow if they don’t heed the errors of the past. They are also in danger of being overtaken again by those they once surpassed who have learned from their mistakes. We must not forget history, or it will repeat itself.