Why should we be pioneers? – The guidance for sailing without compass-

In the Kyocera Philosophy, with the title of “Be a Pioneer,” Mr. Inamori* demonstrates how important it is to have frontier spirits. The words quoted wth “” are what Inamori said.

“Kyocera’s history has been developed while challenging various areas that no one else had ever tried. Our approaches look like navigating the open ocean with no maps and compasses.”

To keep a pioneering spirit, I think the following attitudes are needed.

Let me explain them one by one.

1 Develop our intuition

Mr. Inamori said as follows.

” ‘Paved road’ implies the guidance provided by experts, or the mainstream that everyone follows. But I don’t want to follow that trend. Everyone wears shoes and walks on the fine pavement, but I don’t wear shoes and I walk barefoot. On a hot summer day, I can’t walk barefoot on the hot and burnt asphalt. Thus, I step into the narrow path along the rice fields. Besides, I’m a research guy, so I must develop something new. I don’t believe I could find new themes if I walk along the pleasantly paved road. Rather than that, it would be more interesting to walk along the trails or narrow paths among the muddy fields, where you might encounter snakes or frogs. I am sure that we are highly likely to discover something new in such unknown areas. Your feet may get dirty but I have always taken such an option that seems to be much harder than others. At the same time, I have always told myself that this is exactly the path that I should take. Since I graduated from university, I have taken this approach. ”

→ I think we should rely more on our intuition. In other words, which option would we feel more comfortable as a human being? This means that we should think about what ultimately makes us relaxed or inspires us more. It is quite important to always cultivate this kind of wild intuition if we want to be a pioneer in some area.

2 Proactively choose the hardest

Inamori said, “I have never doubted this ‘take the hardest’ approach and it has always worked. Of course, there were no predecessors, so it was like sailing without a chart or compass.”

→ As Inamori said, I think it is important to proactively compare and choose the option to be taken. Sometimes people misunderstand that there was no other choice. But there should always be several options. It’s quite important to be open to all the options, analyze each one with the guidance of your internal voice, and select the one you really want to follow. I feel this is the tip to commit ourselves to overcoming the hardest hurdle.

3 Follow the compass for fulfillment

Mr. Inamori talks about the compass that we should maintain for sailing.
“At that time, I had the ‘Kyocera Philosophy’ as a compass for fulfillment. No matter how difficult the theme is, we have conducted when we believe that this research definitely will benefit society and everyone. In other words, our compass has been whether this approach is faithful or not. We have always asked ourselves before starting what is the ultimately driver of this project, egoism or altruism. Maintaining such compass, I have led the company with no material financial and operational risks.”

→ Without a compass, people become anxious. You can be driven into extreme anxieties and utmost stresses. Nevertheless, I feel that a compass to do the right thing as a human being has always been the center of our code of business conduct.

4 Take an underlying chance by overcoming hardship

Inamori said as follows.
“Remaining a pioneer in your business field requires a great deal of hardship, but on the other hand, this for sure brings you a sense of accomplishment. As Kyocera has had such a pioneer spirit, we have developed ourselves as a leading company in this area. No matter how large our company grows, we must continue to be pioneers who dream of the future and have strong passion to realize such a wonderful world.

Like meditation, keep your mind calm and pure, then think what direction you should go. This doesn’t look like a so-called ‘laid back’ lifestyle, but once you’ve got used to it, you would be intuitive enough to always make the right decisions. I believe that such attitudes have allowed me to direct our company without a nautical compass or chart.”

To sum up, as Inamori mentioned, being a pioneer is a challenge.

With the above tips, I think we can always be pioneers.

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

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