[:en]Tsukiji, Sayonara[:ja]さようなら、築地[:]
[:en]Saturday, October 6th, marked the end of an eighty-year era as the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo closes following its final tuna auction. The fish market has been moved to a new site in Toyosu about two kilometers away, and opened on October 11th. Tsukiji is undergoing a dramatic change.
[:en]The Ethics of Symbolism[:ja]象徴主義の倫理[:]
[:en]There is nothing inherently wrong with symbolism. It is only symbolism that masquerades inaction that is unethical and destructive.
[:en]Ideology is No Ersatz for Strategy[:ja]イデオロギーは戦略の代わりになり得るものではない[:]
[:en] A friend of mine recently observed that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s strategy to deter a Chinese seizure of the disputed Senkaku Islands makes no sense.
[:en]The Seller is God[:ja]売り手は神である[:]
[:en]When a salesperson tells me, “The way to make a customer happy is to treat them as God!” usually he or she means acquiescing to and fulfilling every demand and whim. Nothing could be further from the truth. No, the customer is not God, nor does the customer ever really want to be. Rather, it […]
[:en]Blinkered by Targets[:ja]ターゲットばかりに固執することの危険性[:]
[:en]The best way to achieve performance targets is to ignore them. It’s improving performance form that counts.
[:en]Labor Shortage is Never a Problem[:ja]労働力が不足していてもビジネスを成長させる方法[:]
[:en]There are two ways to grow your business. You can do the same thing, only more of it. Or you can increase the value of what you do. At the time that I write this, Japan has an unemployment rate of less than three percent, so the latter is, for many businesses, the best viable […]
[:en]Be Unfair and Play Favorites[:ja]公平であることなど忘れ、えこひいきすること[:]
[:en]Fairness is not about equity of treatment. It is about equity of opportunity to exercise one’s talents. You can play favorites and there is nothing wrong with doing so, as long as it is the excellent that you favor.
[:en]Conversation with Visa Japan Country Manager Seiji Yasubuchi[:ja]ビザ・ジャパンのカントリーマネージャー、安渕聖司氏から学んだこと[:]
[:en]On April 3rd, I conducted an onstage conversation with Visa Japan Country Manager, Seiji Yasubuchi, at the Tokyo American Club for the American and French Chambers of Commerce in Japan. We had a full house! Here are my takeaways from my discussion with Seiji.
[:en]Eschew the Putative Best People [:ja]「最高の人材」など存在しない[:]
[:en] Your company should not have mass appeal as a great place to work, if it is exceptional people you want to attract.
[:en]Campaigns Don’t Shape Brands[:ja]ブランドとはキャンペーンによって形作られるものではない[:]
[:en]Campaigns don’t shape brands. Leaders do. Campaigns merely project to the outside world the brand as perceived by the people inside your company, whether that brand is how you like it or not. Dissonance will cause any branding campaign to fail, no matter what you do.
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