At the age of 40, become an irreplaceable figure in the company

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Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: On a Sunday afternoon 10 years ago, while heading home, it started raining as I left the Ogoto Station. I didn’t have an umbrella and decided to take a taxi. More than 10 people were already queuing at the taxi stand. It seemed that taxis came even slower when it rained—after a long wait, only one finally arrived. At that moment, two young men walked across the road and blocked the taxi that had just arrived, completely ignoring the people waiting in line. "Hey! Do you not know there are people waiting here?" an elderly man in front of me shouted at them. "Please line up! We’re all waiting for a taxi!" The two young men paid no attention to the others and tried to get into the taxi. I expected them to say "Oh, sorry" and join the back of the line. But they didn’t. "What are you shouting at us for!" they turned and walked toward the man who had spoken. For a moment, the air around us seemed to freeze. From behind, I saw the elderly man also froze. At that moment, I stepped forward and said to the two young men, "What you’re doing is wrong. You should go to the back of the line!" Looking back now, everyone around had stepped back, watching as bystanders, each thinking only, "Don’t get involved." Naturally, I was isolated. Everyone watched me from a distance, no one willing to do anything. I glared at the two men and suddenly realized the elderly man who had first spoken was gone. The story below is one I recently heard at a gathering. The person who told me had encountered a similar situation while living in Germany. People were queuing for a bus when a man tried to cut in. Suddenly, a teenage girl in the queue raised her schoolbag and swung it hard at the man who was cutting in. The result was that the man didn’t get on the bus and fled in panic. The people in the queue had all condemned him. Two similar stories, yet with different outcomes. What’s the reason? In public spaces in Japan, especially in cities, most people tend to act as if nothing is happening, regardless of what occurs. It’s not that they can’t distinguish right from wrong—for instance, everyone knows that cutting in line is wrong. If you ask them whether it’s right or wrong to warn against such behavior, they’ll all say "right." But would they actually step forward to warn if they were in that situation? The answer is usually "no," because even if they do, the only result is that they’ll be isolated. Moreover, in today’s society, one can be attacked or even killed without warning. On the other hand, why did a teenage girl in Germany take such an extreme action—hitting the man with her schoolbag? It was certainly an aggressive move, but the outcome was that the man fled in panic under the unified condemnation of the crowd. For people there, such an outcome is perfectly natural. When I was young, I lived in Germany and understood their way of thinking. Why such a big difference between the two countries—this is truly worth reflecting on. For us, what matters most now is that similar situations are happening in the "company," this small society. That is, we believe that a company with a "good system" is one where you can "speak up" and "expect help from others," where people can trust each other. The boss always tells employees, "If you have any suggestions, please speak up." Indeed, only by doing so can the work be done better. But the key isn’t whether employees speak up or not—it’s whether they can speak up. Whether there are people around who prevent them from speaking is the real deciding factor. Employees worry that even if they don’t speak up now, they’ll be punished later. The bystanders just watch, and only in an environment without bystanders can people speak freely. But what use is that? People who speak freely are important, but they can’t guarantee that what they say is always right or always hits the mark. Sometimes mistakes happen naturally, but their courage lies in speaking up even when they might be wrong! If people around them encourage them to speak and react accordingly, only then can such people emerge. That is, in such an environment, people who speak freely keep appearing, and in this "vibrant, dynamic company," others will encourage those who want to share their ideas. I call this "organizational system." As seen in the example above, there’s a big difference between Japan’s "system" and Germany’s. Moreover, even within Japan, there are huge differences between companies—some create an environment where people can just stand by and do nothing, while others don’t. If a company’s system shifts in a positive direction, it will create the following environment. A car parts manufacturer used to be very passive, but now it has organized a "Customer Trust Return System," breaking down the boundaries between departments like design and operations to form a new team. This team, led by a young designer, conducts customer visits—directly going to sales stores to gather firsthand information from customers. A central member of this activity said that since starting this work, not only has he changed, but he now feels a sense of security—"When I propose any idea, I’m sure my colleagues will accept it"—trust has grown. This is the change in the "system." This sense of security, knowing that ideas will always be accepted, makes people believe they won’t be singled out or isolated, so they won’t feel tired or frustrated with their work. For this reason, I believe "trust among partners" is currently what’s missing and what’s essential. "Finding partners for oneself" is the key keyword of this book. "When something is about to happen, you’ll get help from those around you"—this sense of security is the hallmark of an ideal organization. Therefore, "finding partners for oneself" is the first step toward achieving that ideal.