Prerequisite for the “Survival of the fittest”

Today, Mr. Inamori said that management requires fighting spirits as if they were martial arts fighters. What Inamori said was quoted with “”

“We can find various competition in our businesses, and we must always strive to win the competition. But the more we desire to win, the more obstacles and difficulties we encounter. If you are less aggressive, you may end up compromising and giving up your beliefs. Thus, in that sense, we should be aggressive enough to strive ourselves to win the competition. No matter how hard or painful our fight looks, we must maintain fierce fighting spirits and talk to ourselves – Never give up until we achieve our goals.- “

I think that the fighting spirit that Mr. Inamori is talking about consists of the following two attitudes.

1 Survival (hard working)
2 Adaptability (dynamic challenge to VULCA environment)

Let me explain one by one.

1 Survival (hardworking)

“Do not get me wrong. You should not be excessively aggressive for you to survive. You don’t have to beat the opponent. For example, weeds on the street side are spreading their leaves to obtain as much sunshine as possible. Those plants have just been doing their best to expose themselves under the sun. Those plants, while assimilate carbon dioxide, store nutrients, endure the harsh winter, and wait for spring again. Even the weeds are all striving hard, we can feel their desire to survive. Such grasses have no intention to compete with other plants nearby. In nature, everyone lives like that. There, those who give up trying to do their best will have no choice but to perish. The natural world was originally created that way. In other words, “survival of the fittest” is the rule of nature.”

→ This part reminded me of other mottos in Kyocera philosophy.
When you think it’s time to give up, the actual work begins.
Always remain humble and push yourself harder.
Humbleness only helps us to realize the fulfillment.
All those mottos allow us to keep working hard to maintain the status quo and to aim one step further.

2 Adaptability (dynamic challenge under the VULCA environment)

“Not the ‘Law of the jangle’ but ‘The survival of the fittest’ has dominated the world. Those who make the best efforts to adapt themselves to the transition in the world and strive themselves much harder than anyone else have been well survived. This survival of the fittest is the law of the natural world. Therefore, the fighting spirit that we must have is not for defeating our opponents, but for living with the fullest efforts.”

→ To become a person with adaptability, we should follow the below procedure.

1) Strive to keep up with the trends in the world.

2) Digest and implement lessons learned from survival.

3) Consider what to do for us to adapt ourselves to the new social platform, and

4) Repeat trial and error with all your wisdom.

In summary, I believe that a fighting spirit is not a desire to beat others but an attitude of adapting and trying to survive when we encounter adversity and drastic changes in the environment. I will keep in mind that it is most important for the top management to have this kind of attitude to protect staff and company.