….there is not that sense of ease in a normal Japanese company. (C: And that’s something that you can offer them?) Yeah, but at the same time we do work really really hard. I’m not sure about whether they would work this hard in a Japanese company. They would probably work longer hours but not do so much. I am trying to reduce the hours, but long hours are inevitable in this business because we are dealing with multiple time zones and we can’t call people in the middle of the night – that’s one of the limitations with being located in Japan, I guess.
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This post is part of a series of excerpts from interviews with foreign executives in Japan, focusing on creativity. Excerpts have been edited for confidentiality.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in relation to this topic. Please feel free to comment directly on this site or get in touch at chris@a-small-lab.com (Chris Berthelsen)
All content on this IDEAS and DISCUSSION blog is provided by a-small-lab under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License: You can SHARE this content as long as you CITE this work, and TELL US about your work (and send us a copy or link!). See Creative Commons for more detail
I just love working with Japanese people here because this is a really unique situation for them and there are able to find their voice here. They are never going to work in a company like this in Japan. They are able to express themselves and have fun. They can push themselves and challenge themselves in a way that they wouldn’t be able to in a normal situation. I hope that is the way that they view it. This is a very happy office and I hope that it is more than a job for them. I know that in the U.K. I am just not going to find that level of dedication. They are really, really, dedicated and passionate. They work hard. U.K. employees are not going to work this hard, and they’re not necessarily going to be passionate. Employees here are not just doing everything by the book, which is interesting for them and I think that they find that challenging.
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This post is part of a series of excerpts from interviews with foreign executives in Japan, focusing on creativity. Excerpts have been edited for confidentiality.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in relation to this topic. Please feel free to comment directly on this site or get in touch at chris@a-small-lab.com (Chris Berthelsen)
All content on this IDEAS and DISCUSSION blog is provided by a-small-lab under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License: You can SHARE this content as long as you CITE this work, and TELL US about your work (and send us a copy or link!). See Creative Commons for more detail
I think that people are more willing to take a risk or gamble in other countries than they are here. I think that it is harder to earn trust here. It takes longer. Whatever you have, whatever experience you have in the West doesn’t really matter, it doesn’t translate.
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This post is part of a series of excerpts from interviews with foreign executives in Japan, focusing on creativity. Excerpts have been edited for confidentiality.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in relation to this topic. Please feel free to comment directly on this site or get in touch at chris@a-small-lab.com (Chris Berthelsen)
All content on this IDEAS and DISCUSSION blog is provided by a-small-lab under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License: You can SHARE this content as long as you CITE this work, and TELL US about your work (and send us a copy or link!). See Creative Commons for more detail
When we were starting out we didn’t get one sale. Not one. We had all the buyers come and have a look at our collection but nobody bought anything. They were all waiting to see whether we would be around in six-months. Then, six-months later we had our sales exhibition and almost no one came. We were thinking that we would need to re-work the company because we were obviously not doing things right. Then the next day one buyer came and bought three of our brands. Then a major department store chain came in did a small buy. At that point we promised that we would really work it in the press and make sure that the pieces that they bought would sell out. We did what we promised and they came back and then bought up big……so there definitely is value in building up trust. After four years we still have to earn it, and we work really hard, but we have had an incredible year this year especially considering it’s a recession.
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This post is part of a series of excerpts from interviews with foreign executives in Japan, focusing on creativity. Excerpts have been edited for confidentiality.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in relation to this topic. Please feel free to comment directly on this site or get in touch at chris@a-small-lab.com (Chris Berthelsen)
All content on this IDEAS and DISCUSSION blog is provided by a-small-lab under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License: You can SHARE this content as long as you CITE this work, and TELL US about your work (and send us a copy or link!). See Creative Commons for more detail
I don’t think that living in this country is easy, either for us or for Japanese people. I think that as a city Tokyo runs really well but there are certain hardships and through that hardship a sense of community is built. Particularly when the day is like this, so magnificent, it really makes you appreciate the things that are around you more (maybe it’s just because I’m getting older though). When I was in Hong Kong and London I didn’t have that feeling. There wasn’t so much of a love of nature and appreciation of things.
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This post is part of a series of excerpts from interviews with foreign executives in Japan, focusing on creativity. Excerpts have been edited for confidentiality.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in relation to this topic. Please feel free to comment directly on this site or get in touch at chris@a-small-lab.com (Chris Berthelsen)
All content on this IDEAS and DISCUSSION blog is provided by a-small-lab under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License: You can SHARE this content as long as you CITE this work, and TELL US about your work (and send us a copy or link!). See Creative Commons for more detail
There is a real strength to Japanese culture, as opposed to Singapore which is very Western, understanding and open. This is a very closed society and that gives it strength – I see it as a real privilege to be able to be a part of it. Previously i might have found it complicated or irritating but now it is a privilege because I know that I am part of a very small group of people that live here. We are a real minority here and the people have opened their hearts and their country to us – that’s an honour. This cultural strength means that you can’t just get along with blinkers, and live in your own little Western world – in Singapore I could go to the supermarket and get whatever I wanted but when I go to the supermarket here I can’t even get basil half the time.
Coming over here allowed me to open up my mind to different things and ways of thinking. I am becoming more and more fascinated with it because it is opening up a new way of thought for me. Cities like Kyoto and the creativity that went into that, it’s very unique thought and I think that is what is really starting to fascinate me about Japan – this unique thought. The fact that they do do things differently is really interesting. I am constantly falling in love with this city and I think it has made me a better person. I am still incredibility impatient but that gives me worth here, I can’t lose that aspect of being a Westerner, that’s what people pay me for. At the same time I’ve been able to examine other parts of my personality. In our industry I think that if I was living in West there would be so many things to take my attention away from what I am doing but here in Japan I can be very focused.
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This post is part of a series of excerpts from interviews with foreign executives in Japan, focusing on creativity. Excerpts have been edited for confidentiality.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in relation to this topic. Please feel free to comment directly on this site or get in touch at chris@a-small-lab.com (Chris Berthelsen)
All content on this IDEAS and DISCUSSION blog is provided by a-small-lab under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License: You can SHARE this content as long as you CITE this work, and TELL US about your work (and send us a copy or link!). See Creative Commons for more detail
Yeah, our industry is filled with people who have very strong personalities and maybe they want people bowing to them rather than them having to bow. Maybe that’s how I was when I first came over too and I got put in my place pretty fast.
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This post is part of a series of excerpts from interviews with foreign executives in Japan, focusing on creativity. Excerpts have been edited for confidentiality.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in relation to this topic. Please feel free to comment directly on this site or get in touch at chris@a-small-lab.com (Chris Berthelsen)
All content on this IDEAS and DISCUSSION blog is provided by a-small-lab under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License: You can SHARE this content as long as you CITE this work, and TELL US about your work (and send us a copy or link!). See Creative Commons for more detail
So many times I’ve seen that Westerners just don’t care about Japan. They want to sell here but they just don’t give a shit. They won’t come here or they won’t take the time to understand the market because they are ‘busy’. They see themselves as global so they don’t see why they should be spending any extra time on Japan….even though Japan is paying their bills.
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This post is part of a series of excerpts from interviews with foreign executives in Japan, focusing on creativity. Excerpts have been edited for confidentiality.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in relation to this topic. Please feel free to comment directly on this site or get in touch at chris@a-small-lab.com (Chris Berthelsen)
All content on this IDEAS and DISCUSSION blog is provided by a-small-lab under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License: You can SHARE this content as long as you CITE this work, and TELL US about your work (and send us a copy or link!). See Creative Commons for more detail
Maybe I was arrogant in thinking that I could come in and get a top spot straight away even though my work and my background should be enough that I would be able to do that if I was in another country (like Singapore). But here, I guess you have to pay your dues. (C: So at least for foreigners it’s not a talent or even experience based system?) Yeah, it’s a respect thing and you have to show that you are in for the long haul.
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This post is part of a series of excerpts from interviews with foreign executives in Japan, focusing on creativity. Excerpts have been edited for confidentiality.
We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in relation to this topic. Please feel free to comment directly on this site or get in touch at chris@a-small-lab.com (Chris Berthelsen)
All content on this IDEAS and DISCUSSION blog is provided by a-small-lab under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License: You can SHARE this content as long as you CITE this work, and TELL US about your work (and send us a copy or link!). See Creative Commons for more detail
