How to change your mindset towards the job you don’t like: Philosophy “Love your works”

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

What Inamori said is quoted with “”.

“ Kyocera is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and during that time I believe I have really enjoyed my working and private life. However, in reality, everyone’s life should be an enjoyable one. To achieve that, there are certain mottos we must keep in mind, and the first of those five essential mottos is to love your work. This is exactly the most important.

I truly believe that I achieved to my status as of today, simply because I love my work when I joined the company after graduating from university, so I believe this is a truly important element in life and work. ”

Speaking of myself, for about 30 years, from my teens to my 40s, I didn’t like the work I was doing. However, by reflecting on what Mr. Inamori said and my own experiences, and adopting the following attitude, I think we can really love our work.

Let me explain one by one.

1. Consider your work as a way of giving back to society.

“ I accepted the position (of the head of Chamber of commerce in Kyoto) because Mr. Tsukamoto advised me that, as we have used the name of Kyoto to make our business flourish, we should work hard for the community of Kyoto to give back. “

(Quoted from the Inamori Digital Library)

→ Scientist Kunihiko Takeda tells university students, “Work is not self-realization (pursuit of one’s ultimate satisfaction), but a way of giving back to the society that has raised you, so work hard at it regardless of whether you like it or not.”

When I left university, I was arrogant and selfish, and never thought about the gratitude I felt towards society or the world. However, now that I think about it, I think that I can live comfortably in this era because so many people are doing their jobs for me. This approach allows me to find the value in working hard at my job as a way of giving back.

2. Raise and develop the dignity of a Japanese.

” I talked about Ninomiya Sontoku, who was featured in Kanzo Uchimura’s book ‘Representative Japanese.‘ Sontoku was always carrying a shovel and a spade on his shoulders, and worked in the fields from the dawn to the night, and accomplished the great feat of transforming a poor farming village into a prosperous one. Kanzo Uchimura described Sontoku as follows: ‘Sontoku, who was born and raised poor and was a simple farmer with no higher education, wore a hakama like a samurai, went up to the castle and spoke and discussed confidently with the noble samurais of the time. His behavior, the content of his speech, everything was wonderful.’ ”

→I think Inamori wanted to express that this is “a representative Japanese.” After the war, Japanese people were taught that the Japanese are a bad race and inferior to the Western people. Especially among smart people and those who are considered elites, many of them think that Japan should follow more Western world regimes, even can be integrated into their social and cultural sphere, or that they want to obtain citizenship in Europe or the United States. Under such mindset, those elites would never be motivated to work for a Japan as of today. Thus, many people in Japan cannot put their efforts into the work in front of them.

When I was working at a European bank, I once wrote an article with this prevailing thought in my mind. My boss at the time (he was a Dutch guy) told me, “Why do you accuse your own country? I hardly understand your attitude, and you may not be selected to the position that you want to take.” I think that was a very good advice and his advice allowed me to find out important criteria to make our life wonderful. Nationality and our origin is one of the fundamental of our identity. Strong identity allows us to work hard to keep our society good. I think this attitude of being proud to be Japanese helps us to work diligently to our Japanese society.

3. Devote the fullest efforts to your work, regardless of the compensation.

“ A company’s profits are made through the dedicated efforts and cooperation of all employees. I believe that it is totally wrong to justify that the result was achieved by the management alone under the pretext of merit-based management and managements receive high compensation. ”

(Quoted from the Inamori Digital Library)

→ Professor Takeda, the scientist mentioned above, also said that regardless of compensation, he took the initiative to do the work given to him or the work that others did not take, worked hard at it, and that this was very helpful to fulfill his life in many ways.

Depending on the type of work, I also sometimes have work that is not commensurate with the compensation, or work that I am involved in for volunteer-like compensation. However, if we work hard at any job, we will be able to experience things that others cannot, and this has actually and unexpectedly brought benefits to our company over the middle term. If you accept a job, do your best at it, and by doing this, you will be able to understand the significance of the job.

* 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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