Grade repeater vs study grinder: Philosophy “To be a man of compassion.”

This time, Inamori* spoke about the above motto in Kyocera philosophy.

What Inamori said is quoted with “”.

“ At that moment, I was very shocked with what he did to us: sharing what he had won with others instead of taking everything by himself. He took a classmate whose routine is back and forth between class and library to Pachinko (gambling slot machine). He used his own money to give us relevant social exposure, and even treated us to a meal using the money he had won at pachinko. The person I had even looked down on until then suddenly seemed like a great person to me.

In comparison, I did not even consider his generosity and compassion even though he spent precious resources only on us. I finally came to realize how small and narrow-minded I was and how incompetent I was as a human. “

This is what Mr. Inamori added in the section “Fighting in the middle of the ring”. I think he was saying that while it’s important to steadily prepare in advance, you shouldn’t become arrogant to always keep your distance from the people around you. The reasons why Inamori encouraged us not to be too smart under the context of thorough preparation are as follows.

Let me elaborate one by one.

1. To change our attitude of looking down on others

“ To be honest, I didn’t really want to go (to the pachinko parlor). I was a bookworm who studied at the library every day, so I looked down on him, thinking, ‘He’s so sloppy and lazy, that’s why he repeated the grade again.’ But he invited me, and I couldn’t refuse, so I ended up going with him.”

→ Some people love putting everything in effort, and others can’t. Some people love learning and piling up knowledge, whereas the others don’t, and some people can get excellent grades and the others get failed. What Inamori wanted to tell us was as follows.

We should not judge the person according to their performance or grades. We must consider what is the most important thing as a human being. Of course, it’s important to be strict and do things properly, but that doesn’t mean we can look down on people who can’t do things properly. I think Inamori is pointing this out and warning us, business leaders.

2. To learn about human beings

“ (In my fourth year of university) I used to teach him when he was studying, on the other hand, he taught me how to interact and have fun in society. He was very mature and could interact with businesspersons as if he were their business counterpart. So, I was following him timidly and learned how to behave under various business situations. I often thought, “I see. So that’s how you greet people in this situation.”

When I was reminiscing about this episode with him at a class reunion, he said, “Well, I don’t quite remember that.” However, when I told him, “Today, I have been telling our staff and business leaders about how humans should be in various scenes, but what you taught me back then has become part of my blood and I learned a lot from you,” he looked very happy. “

→Experience and exposure are very important. People who allow us to step into a world we don’t know and to gain important exposure are very valuable to us, whether they are friends, seniors, or parents. In particular, I feel that I should respect those who give me the opportunity and experience to learn about what humans are.

Even successful people make mistakes in their relations or interactions with other people, which means humans. I believe that by gaining experience and hands-on experience like this, we can reduce the number of mistakes that humans were supposed to make.

3. To remove our preconceptions and broaden our world

“ While I was playing pachinko, thinking that I wanted to go home and study, I started to lose before I knew it. Meanwhile, my friend was doing well, and the box was full of balls. I watched him for a while, but the pachinko place was very noisy and the atmosphere was bad, so I said, ‘I lost, so I’m leaving’ and I left.

However, a few days later, he invited me to go to pachinko again 。 。 。 。 He treated Tetsugoro and me to bowls of noodles with the money he gained. “

→ A person who we look down on as a loser in society gave him a social lesson in play and taught him about “sharing.” I think the shock that Inamori was talking about here was probably true. People who are good at studying, working, and playing sports tend to look down on those who can’t. However, I think Inamori thought that he couldn’t teach others how to study, nor could he earn anything by studying, and he couldn’t treat others with the money he had earned.

I think Inamori learned from this experience that people who can bring harmony among people are wonderful. “Fighting in the middle of the ring” is an important motto, but following this motto does not qualify you as a special person. I think Inamori is saying that even if you fail, it is more admirable to be a person who can share the fruits with their peers and bring harmony to the workplaces.

* Mr. Kazuo Inamori, the founder of Kyocera, KDDI (one of the top tele communication companies in Japan) and the top of revitalization project of JAL. As a well-known Japanese entrepreneur, he has been sharing his experiences and management know-how with managements of small to middle companies in Japan.

Further queries or doubts, please email to ytomizuka@abrilsjp.com

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