2020– date –
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Marketing Tips: Don’t Be Obsessed with Efficiency and Rationalization
【All the cities become like each other】 Before the COVID, I traveled around the world. When it was best in efficiency but worst in working environment, I visited five countries in a week. Such hasty trips got me disoriented. Soon after... -
A Lesson Learned from Zappos: We Work for Something More Than Money
【The customer-obsession policy of Zappos creates many loyal customers】 The other day, right after passing through the cashier of a supermarket, a pack of eggs slipped from my shopping basket and fell to the floor. In that moment, every... -
Marketing Tips: Love It or Not Rather Than Good or Bad
【MBA frameworks are no longer sufficient】 AIDMA, PDCA, SWOT, PEST, 3C, 4P, STP, KGI, KPI, etc. I was so excited when learning these business frameworks in an MBA course more than 10 years ago. I naively believed I had gotten a key to t... -
Psychology Trivia: The Measure of Intelligence Is the Ability to Change
【What is the standard of beauty?】 Modesty is such a holy word in Japan. We hardly ever hear people brag about even their relatives, not to mention themselves. It is considered as a virtue to be modest or humble. However, the magic of l... -
Business Tips: Great Expectations Are Hope That the Sun Also Rises
【The wane of the king TOYOTA】 Elon Musk started TESLA in 2003. Only 17 years from then, he finally snatched the world top position from TOYOTA in the total market value. The news made me feel the big change of the times and somehow rem... -
The Charm of Hokkaido: Hunger Is the Best Sauce
【A home is a place to long for from a distance】 A journey itself is worthless, but it's what we learn from a journey that counts. It is a part of the subject of my previous article. As some of the readers may notice, it is inspired by ... -
Japan Travel in the Know: Go Off the Rails to Visit Small Towns in Hokkaido!
【Country towns struggle to survive】 Do your cities (towns or villages) have taglines? This is not a question as an attention getter (as I often do), but I’m really curious. In Japan, with decrease in population, the number of municipal... -
The Unbearable Lightness of Being: What Do You Work for?
【A disposable worker】 Today, by writing this article, I try to make a stir in the philosophy of productivity improvement. I know it's very tiny one, though. When I decided to resign from Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDAF), the title... -
Japanese Culture and Traditions: No More Self-Discovery, Be Wise Frogs in the Well!
【It's about time to stop expecting a lot for the journey of self-discovery】 In Japan for these 10 years or more, “the journey of self-discovery” has been very popular especially among young people. A typical pattern is: suddenly quitti... -
The Background of Product Development: Products Made by Homo Sapiens
【Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari】 I assume many of you have already read the book, “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari. It's full of intellectual excitement. Truth is always stranger ...