This time, Inamori* spoke about the above motto in Kyocera philosophy.
What Inamori said is quoted with “”.
“ In such a busy schedule, if the contents of the conversation remain in your mind, it is difficult to switch your mind when you meet the next person and talk, this looks inefficient. Therefore, I erase everything from my mind before meeting the next person. Then, I listen carefully to the next person, draw a conclusion, then clear my mind again and meet the next person. I have been doing this kind of amazing feat every day. As I do this from morning to evening, I get exhausted by the end of the day. Significant attention makes us spend a lot of energy. . . .
At one point, I stopped giving my subordinates casual consultations in the hallway. I say to them, ‘If you seek my opinion or instruction, let’s move on to the corner of the office or meeting place where I can fully concentrate. Chatting in the hallway looks simply unproductive’. In other words, when listening to someone, you must concentrate all your attention. You should never listen to what the counterpart says while your mind is occupied with other stuff. This is a necessary attitude for top leaders regardless of the size of the company. You must start training yourself now, and such training will definitely allow you to improve your decision-making skills. “
The below are the steps to pay significant attention.
1. Put yourself in speaker’s position
2. Think and imagine the story in color
3. Analyze all the personalities in the demonstrated story
Let me elaborate one by one.
1. Put yourself in speaker’s position
“ (Is what the customer said to my staff a bargaining tactic or the truth?) With that in mind, I had my subordinates repeat again in front of me the negotiation talk, which he had in the client’s office. Our sales guy spoke to me, ‘I said this to that procurement guy, and he responded like this…..’ I wanted to have at least some clues to figure out the client’s true intentions, even though I wasn’t in that meeting.”
→ Inamori also says that top leaders must be psychologists. What is the other party ultimately trying to tell you by expressing these contents in this way? It is important to think about it with the fullest concentration.
For example, a staff member who talks a lot about how hard that task may be thinking, “I want you to recognize me,” or, “I’ve achieved so much, so I want you to forgive me even if this job fails (I’m worried if I fail).” It is quite important to understand what the counterpart is ultimately trying to tell us by conveying this information from his/ her perspective.
2. Think and imagine the story in color
“ Even though I’m not involved in research and development myself, by repeatedly running simulations in my mind, I can clearly see what the finished product will look like. That’s what I mean by “thinking until you can clearly see it,” but seeing it in black and white is not enough. Unless you can see it clearly in color, you haven’t really thought it through. “
→ We must listen to the staff and vividly imagine in color the scene where the issue happened. I think this kind of approach is also effective, using the imagination to seriously concentrate on what your counterpart is saying. Generally speaking, when people watch dramas or films, they are relaxed but concentrated. I think it’s possible to create this kind of focused mental state even when talking about work and tasks with staff. This is because you perceive what the staff is saying as a scene from a drama or movie, which allows you to make decisions with significant attention.
3. Analyze all the personalities in the demonstrated story
“. . . My uncle also said this. One day, to justify his idleness, he said, ‘The fool next to me has to get up early and work. I’m smart, so I can sleep as long as I can, but the person next to me is not so smart, so he gets up early and works for a living.’ In other words, he was scorning people who are not smart, saying that they have to get up and work while smart guys are sleeping. “
→ Inamori sees through this conceit about the intelligence and intelligence of a brilliant person who graduated from a famous university. The old man in this story has a complex about his intelligence and has a twisted way of looking at others. Perhaps this old man had fears and anxieties about the situation where he is looked down upon.
Complexes become obsessions and are expressed in the words people say. I think that leaders need to listen seriously to what people say and look into the depths of their minds and emotions with an unbiased perspective. I think by doing this, we will be able to listen carefully to what the other person is saying and make judgments about everything with significant attention.
To sum up, making judgments with significant attention involves putting yourself in the speaker’s shoes, visualizing problems in color, and listening as if you are reading the minds of all the people mentioned in the conversation. I think that we can acquire this significant attention by going through this process. I’m still not very good at it, but I want to keep training.
* 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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