Noise or Voice?

Summer green

It was a hot summer morning as usual. Mike, a European businessman, spoke to one of his Japanese colleagues, Takeshi, in the office.

“I’m impressed with how patient Japanese people are.”

“Patient…with what?”

“These days the noise of cicadas is getting louder and louder, but nobody in our office cares about it. It’s so loud that I can’t concentrate on my work. How do you put up with it? I really want to cut down the forestation in front of our building so that they’d be gone for my peace!”

“Eeh.. so? I don’t care much about it… but yes, it’s getting louder…”

Takeshi had no idea why the normal sound of summer could be such a big question. On the other hand, Mike was unsatisfied with Takeshi’s unsure reaction not being on the same page.

Mike came to me to ask my opinion.

“Please help me understanding Takeshi’s answer. The noise of cicadas is getting louder these days, and it’s disturbing our intelligent work. Right?”

Probably Takeshi had felt Mike’s idea had been strange. Actually, it’s the question of how the world is viewed.

“Technically, you are right. The sound is getting louder, and it may be disturbing you. Regardless of the fact, we, Japanese people, never say it noise but ‘voice’ of cicadas.’”

“I don’t get it. What do you mean?”

“We view the world in a different way from how you do. We value something alive like cicadas and make a connection with them while you see them just as annoying bugs. They are living their lives from birth to death. It’s the same as what we, as people, do. We rank them in the same position as we are in. So it’s natural they have their ‘voices’ to speak up just like we do. That’s why Takeshi didn’t agree to your idea that cicadas are ‘the source of noise.’”

I saw Mike was getting confused with my answer.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I am. You must have realized so far that we Japanese are not good at being faced with different or opposite perspectives. We are likely to share one single common angle among ourselves. To put it into practice, we animate things as if they are alive so that even living nature can be the same subject as we are. Then cicadas are no longer objects offensive to us but something from the same level.”

“Why do you want to avoid objects as opposites? They don’t necessarily offend you, do they? Actually, cicadas are small bugs, they don’t have any weapons. ”

“Really? You said you wanted to get rid of them, didn’t you?”

“Hey, quit pulling my legs!”

Mike agreed at least to the point that Japanese people are happier than he was with cicadas because they are friends with the small bugs. He remained the only enemy to the seasonal neighbors. One single phenomenon can be understood in a different way or plays a different role in a foreign philosophy.

My Biased View Of Business Communication

“May I ask a question? Sorry for disturbing her.” But I have to confirm with you what the bottom line of this workshop setting is.”

One of the participants raised a question when a young assistant was critiquing the work one participant brought in.

The facilitator unsurprisingly replied, “Yes, of course. Go ahead.” Accordingly his assistant held her speech and stepped back.

“I don’t agree all of your assistant’s points. I hate to say that she is unqualified, but she is just a newbie in this business. We are unaware if she is skilled enough to appropriately critique our output. Is she your delegation, or is she speaking based on her own ideas? Can you explain what you intend to do in having that young girl to speak? I want to make the most of this learning opportunity because I spend my money and time for it. I want to have productive discussions rather than her grandstanding.”

You may think it was just a feedback from a participant in order to maximize the outcome from the session. Yes, it was. But I was reflexively afraid that it could provoke unhealthy tensions in the room, as I had seen so many scenes of emotional criticism over a person rather than an issue or emotional reactions against a very positive suggestion, either of which had ruined many meetings.

So I was hoping either of the facilitator or the assistant wouldn’t lose their temper just because they had been argued against. The other participants didn’t seem to be willing to speak anything but waiting for someone to get it back on the right track.

Then the facilitator broke the silence, “I agree to your points. Without knowing my intention, it’s difficult to anyone to accept the critiques from a young assistant, far younger than any of you. I should have shared it with you before this meeting and I apologize I didn’t do it. Can I take some time to explain it now?”

“Yes, please.”

He continued politely, “I agree that my assistant is unexperienced and unfamiliar in the business field. I wanted to show her presence as an example that even that a young girl can be able to critique productively. You may be uncomfortable listening to her because it directly critiques your personalized way of doing things. But it’s important for you to put aside your set style for the moment in order to be familiarized with the standardized way. I want to help your jump-start in that short preparation period. I could provide a moderated way of critique, but it wouldn’t have enough influence on you. I’m making it a rule to review all of her comments before each session. So please be patient as she is not criticizing personally but giving productive suggestions to help you break through.”

The woman answered, “I understood and I’m happy to know that you are seriously considering our development.”

I was also happy that their short conversation hadn’t been developed into an emotional dispute, which could have been the case in my past working environments. It’s not easy in Japan to have a discussion with straight opinions like yes or no, do or don’t, because we have been disciplined not to do so but follow the given consensus in public. So people are not used to being faced with unexpected counterarguments. Any good idea opposite to the mainstream would be likely to be taken as personal criticism even. They tend to be harsh in raising a question just because expected reactions would be hostile as well for above reasons. This could be seen in many foreign-capital companies where Japanese employees are pressured to speak straightforwardly by expat managers.

As I had that biased understanding, I admired the woman opened the discussion, the facilitator, and the assistant. They were really grown-up adults enough to have a productive debate. Does it sound like an exaggeration? Yes, it does. That’s because I had seen such a positive discussion for the first time since I had become an HR professional years before.

A Losing Company Can’t Change Their Way Of Management

Shinjuku, Tokyo

30 years ago, it was normal for Japanese companies to have their official summer vacation in the middle of August based on a religious event. A majority of people working in Tokyo used to trek out of the capital city to their home towns accordingly. The big city became so quiet with less business and less people during the week. It was the social trend at that time.

Today, things have changed. Life styles are more diverse. There is very little chance for businesses to shut down even temporarily. So more and more companies, especially international ones, allow employees to have a flexible vacation schedule as both people and businesses prefer it.

Some companies still have the traditional vacation in August to use the week for maintenance of factories. But I think many of them can’t change their practice for a unique reason honestly. I saw an example in a management meeting of a company.

The company was losing their presence in the market. One day, their vacation schedule was one of the topics on the agenda of the meeting because the company had a set official vacation week in August while the important customers and the major competitors were doing business during the week. I participated in it as the head of HR.

I started with a proposal. “It doesn’t make sense any more that we have the fixed vacation in August. We have been left behind in the market. On the other hand, it’s not necessarily beneficial to all the employees to have the summer break at the same time of the year. There have been requests from employees to allow them flexibility to shift it to another week. I think an adjustable plan will have lots of benefits to both the company and the employees.”

The company had never had dealt with a topic of changing policies before. The directors didn’t know how to lead the discussion. Instead, they beat around the bush.

First, the sales director responded.

“I personally agree. But if we have the new plan, my team will never be able to have a summer vacation at all. Our customers directly call the person in charge of the account. So if he is gone, we will miss a possible business chance with the customers.”

“You are the leader of the department. You are supposed to discuss with your staff to set reasonable vacation shifts as a team. It’s a part of the normal business backup plan. Otherwise we will always have a problem when we have someone off due to the seasonal flu, for example.”

“Then we will have more chances that we have to become a backup for someone on vacation while being responsible to customers. As a result, we can’t take a vacation to avoid such an additional workload as a team.”

The finance director followed.

“I basically agree to the change. The finance team has worked during the week anyway because the current vacation schedule hits the busiest week of the month. It will be helpful to have the week to be our normal business day. But the team should follow the same operational schedule rather than individual vacation plan.”

“In that case, you can discuss with your staff to set the same vacation week as a team according to your timetable.”

“I am afraid that everyone from my team will want to have a different schedule from the others because they don’t like each other. I’d prefer keeping the current plan over having that problem.

The service director joined.

“I agree to the new plan. We’ll be able to respond to customers in a timely manner. But I don’t think my staff will feel comfortable with it. There will be some people who want to have the same vacation schedule. Then they are likely to make an argument against the new plan. I will have difficulties in managing them.”

“It’s our responsibility as the management team to communicate with our employees. Why don’t we discuss a communication plan in this meeting?”

“I don’t agree to a plan which may bring a dispute in my section. We, as the management team, should provide something with no room to argue.”

The directors listed up their reasons to disagree to the change. After a few hours of discussion, they finally reached a conclusion.

“We, as a good employer, should keep our current practice to protect our employees from too much workload and internal conflicts. Keeping consistency will strengthen our productivity to catch up with the market.” The president agreed to this counter-proposal from the majority directors.

It was a silly game. But the most expensive resources of the company were seriously playing it in the board room. They were satisfied with the conclusion.

A Letter to Expats

Dear Expats in Tokyo,

I’d like to share some ideas with you so that you could make your business life happier and easier than it is today you feel stressful.

I guess you’ve been frustrated since coming to Japan because your staff are sometimes illogical and unintegrated. You might have taken an intercultural training before coming to Japan and leant that Japanese people strictly follow rules and go with the flow. They would work cooperatively in a team. But you may have realized it’s not the case in your organization, correct?

If you agree, you’ve probably missed a critical fact. That is, we follow rules and hierarchies which are clearly established as a consensus. It’s more important for Japanese people to follow a majority than to follow a mere statement. If it sounds illogical, then yes, we are illogical in your way of thinking.

Please let me show an example to you. The other day, an expat executive asked me, “The written rule says that you must not cross the road when the traffic light is red. You should follow it. Otherwise we can’t run our business as a company. Business is business. Not their preference. But all the employees do cross the road when the light is red. Why do they ignore the rule?” I answered, “Then they interpret the rule in their way and they make a consensus on it. That is, they understood they must not cross the road because it’s dangerous to cross the road with heavy traffic. It means that they could cross the road unless it would be dangerous. They make a consensus on it. Once it’s established, it could even rule out the cars on the street. Then they have no doubt about their way of working” He said, “It’s not written in the rule at all that you may make an exception!” I added, “It’s not an exception. It’s how they understand the given rule.” “Hey, are you serious?” “Yes, I am. We are illogical in your way of thinking.”

Please don’t underestimate the power of the unwritten consensus. It could move all of your staff more effectively than your statement. I know many expats have tried to change their staff’s attitude by repeating their speech. But That’s the thing your local staff are the least willing to follow and the most likely to steer around by interpreting in a very different way from your expectation. But once you become good at reading the consensus behind, you will be trusted and followed by your team.

Business is business. It must be crystal clear with globally standardized logic. This proposition could be interpreted in a different way. I’d be pleased to help you living in our illogical world. Please feel free to contact me if you have any question.

Best regards,

K

A Work Diary: Chemical Experiment

This is a true story. I got a job offer of the head of Human Resources of an American company in Tokyo. It was like a chemical experiment. I was put into a mixing pot filled with very differnt people. It actually worked to make a reaction.

Day 1

It was 8:55am. I entered the building to walk up to the office of the administrative functions, which would become a new part of my daily routine. I had prepared to speak to my new colleagues. There was a group of people already busy working on the computers.

I found a lady next to the door, who looked the most senior amongst them. “Good morning. I am the new head of HR.” I said nervously. She gave me a cold stare at me without saying a word. I spoke to her again. But she kept herself completely silent while I was hoping that she would say something to me.

With a new attitude, I walked around the room stopping at each individual desk to say hello. They politely bowed to me, but no one said anything to me. Even on my bright sunny start day, the gloomy office made me so anxious about how I could get along with the people. I wised that it could have been just my too much worry, but shortly it turned out to be the reality.

The private office assigned to me was the only place where I felt comfortable.

Day 2

A young woman from the Sales department came into my office right after the lunch break. “We are not happy with your presence here because you are seated in this private office. It was a board member’s office. My boss has worked here for a long time in this company but has still been seated in an open space like his staff. This room should be assigned to him.” She said to me abruptly.

I had no idea what to say but tried to calm her down. I explained that I was not given any special treatment but assigned to work with several confidential documents.

“There is no need to hide the documents. You should be working with the rest of us.” She denied. It was an illogical argument. She had no right to order me around as she was an assistant who was not authorized to decide how to run the company. Suddenly the phone on my desk rang, which gave her indication to leave my office.

Later on, I visited the sales office and finally understood what she had meant. All my sales colleagues had expressed the same thing as her. I found no friends but enemies in the organization due to the difference in belief. It did not matter to me that I was in a private office. I was simply to do my job. But they cared very much.

Day 3

I got a call from my boss from the Headquarters in the morning. “How are you doing? You can call me anytime you need help from me.” I spoke to him about my first two days which had proven to be tough and asked for his advice on how I would cope with these people. “Actually that’s what I want you to change.” He said.

In the afernoon, a man from the Operation department came into my office and said, “We don’t know what your role is, but we don’t need you. We will continue what we have been doing to this date. We don’t want you change anything.”

I realized what the bottleneck of the organization would be like and that it wasn’t going to be something I could change overnight. The company had been acquired by the American brand a few years before. Literally, the people had had to be Americanized just one day against their will. Since then, they had started out their silent resistance against the American headquarters.  Anyway, I was expected to bring a peace and friendship into the local organization.