This time, Inamori* spoke about the above motto in Kyocera philosophy.
What Inamori said is quoted with “”.
“ I have always told Kyocera employees, ‘Every day, every moment, be creative. You don’t have to have an academic background or specialized knowledge, but I believe that our ingenuity will definitely drive Kyocera’s continuous growth.’
(The founder of 3M in the United States) wanted to make his company large, and when his friend approached him and asked if he wanted to buy a mine. He believed that the mine contained high-quality ore, so he decided to buy it for a high price. However, that mine was just a slag heap made of waste rock after mining. He asked an expert’s opinion but was told that it was “completely worthless.” He realized that he had been deceived by his friend, even though he had invested a large amount of money that he had saved up. “
Inamori explains how the founder of 3M transformed a slag heap into a treasure trove.
The steps were as follows:
1. Think about how to use it at all costs.
2. Keep seeking the better quality.
3. Apply the acquired knowledge and technology to another product.
Let me elaborate one by one.
1. Think about how to use it at all costs.
“ Extraordinary people are different. Most of the rubble from the slag heap was mainly composed of quartz. When he saw this pile of rubble, he thought, ‘ How come I can make them valuable?’ He screened the rubble, separated it into fine and coarse particles, and poured it onto paper coated with glue. . . .
He used it to rub the bottom of a pot, and it quickly became clean. When he polished the metal with the paper with the finer particles attached, it shines beautifully. He thought this was interesting and decided to commercialize it. This is the creation of sandpaper. “
→ First of all, everything starts with thinking about how to use it or how to make it work. In real estate, I think it starts with thinking about how to revitalize a regional city with a declining population and aging communities, and how to reuse the infrastructure and existing urban facilities there.
We must think about it all day and night, awake or asleep. We must also study cases from overseas. Such continuous efforts would allow us to come up with some solutions.
2. Keep seeking better quality.
“ Eventually, the founder of 3M, who wanted to make better quality products, started trying various items/ approaches to deliver the better quality. . . . . He went to experts such as university professors and asked them to research adhesives. At the same time, he realized that he couldn’t rely solely on paper vendors, so he started making his own ideal backing paper. “
→ Real estate is different from the manufacturing industry, so it’s hard to compare, but even when it comes to regional revitalization, I think it’s important to be creative and think about how to revitalize the area better.
You can’t make something perfect from the beginning. It’s difficult to satisfy everyone. How can we make more people satisfied over the long term? We must keep asking ourselves to come up with one urban plan after another.
3. Apply the acquired knowledge and technology to another product.
“ At the same time, since he had acquired knowledge about adhesives, he thought, ‘We can make something like adhesive tape, not just sandpaper. It would surely be convenient if we can provide a tape that could be stuck anywhere,’ and started making the adhesive tape that we use today. . . .
Eventually, with the development of electronics, recording tape appeared as a recording medium for tape recorders. This recording tape is made by applying adhesive to the surface of a resin tape and then applying iron oxide powder on top of that.
The founder of 3M declared, ‘I’m specialized in attaching powder evenly to tape,’ and entered the manufacture of magnetic tape. In this way, he applied his own technology one after another and promoted diversification. “
→ In regional revitalization of real estate, the expertise that we successfully acquire in one region can be brought to other regions and other countries. Each region or country has its own issues, and the know-how on how to solve those issues, what steps to take, and how to implement them has been accumulated.
Therefore, such an accumulated know-how can be applied to other geographical areas. Furthermore, our field of expertise may be implemented for creating ideal future cities in the desert or by reclaiming land above sea level.
So, to sum up, to be always creative, you must first have the strong determination to make use of something at all costs, seek out higher quality products, and then apply the accumulated know-how to other fields and other products. Even though the real estate industry can easily become static, I would like to always strive to create dynamic changes.
* 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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