Return on Human Intelligence
Artificial intelligence and expert systems in business can increase organizational capability, but at the same time, despite hype and promise, they are no silver bullet and can also dumb your organization down.
The Acumen of Gender Diversity
Most global companies outside of Japan have targets for increasing numbers of women employees, particularly in management. And even in Japan where women are often given short shrift, more global companies now have such targets as well. However, the leaders of the most successful companies I know achieve their objective by doing things right that […]
Work Less and Boost Productivity
If you want to increase productivity in your business, work less not more. A division of Microsoft Japan reduced the work week from five days to four, closing the office Fridays for everyone, and found productivity jumped forty percent! Yes, that’s right. Microsoft in Japan—not Microsoft in the United States or elsewhere. If Microsoft Japan […]
Takeaways from Conversation with Yuji Okamura, Takami Former CEO and executive adviser to L’Oréal Japan’s CEO
On November 6th, 2023, I was privileged to conduct an onstage conversation the America and French chambers of commerce in Japan with Yuji Okamura, Takami Former CEO and executive adviser to L’Oréal Japan CEO, Jean-Pierre Charriton, who was also on hand to introduce Okamura-san and take questions. Takami is a Japanese skincare product company founded […]
Strategy on Your Own Terms
The best military strategists always choose the terrain on which they will do battle, rather than allowing the enemy to choose for them. So, in business, why would you possibly allow others to define the topography of your business environment instead of choosing the topography yourself? Yet, that is often precisely what business people do.
[:en]There is No Japanese Mindset[:ja]日本人特有の考え方などというものはない[:]
[:en]Nationality and national culture are not granular enough to explain behavior. There is no “Japanese mindset.” I have traveled to more than twenty countries, and lived outside my native United States for almost my entire adult life. I speak Japanese and French fluently, and just enough Italian, German, and Mandarin Chinese to get myself into […]
[:en]Thriving in Volatile Times[:ja]不安定な時代にも成功するには[:]
[:en] As we emerge from the state of emergency and enter a period of recovery, now is the time to make your business thrive, not just survive. Below are five behaviors of my most successful clients that have helped them hit the ground running and stay at the top of their game.
[:en]Authority Isn’t Empowerment[:ja]権限とエンパワーメントとは同義語ではない[:]
[:en]Empowerment is like breathing. We all recognize its need but we’re rarely aware of it until something is wrong. Passivity in business is the most common symptom of lack of empowerment.
[:en]Empathy Trumps Projection[:ja]投影ではなく共感をすること[:]
[:en]Projection and empathy are not the same thing, but they are often confused. Empathy is the ability to understand how someone is thinking, whereas projection is presuming a person thinks like you. Be careful not to project when it is empathy that you intend.
[:en]Change First, Culture Later[:ja]まず変化に取り組んでから、企業文化を見直すこと[:]
[:en]If you are a leader seeking rapid change in your company, forget about culture. Culture will take care of itself. Focus on new ways of doing things. The genesis of a new culture results from a change in behavior, not the other way around. Change the way people do things. Culture change follows as a […]
English 
Japanese