Managing for Creativity in Japan » Being a Foreigner

Marking Territory vs. Teaching a Race

Chris Berthelsen — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 07:00:07 +0000

“I think that there are a couple of levels at play here. One level is ‘who’ the person is. For example when I worked in New York, I saw someone come from another market to take on a very senior position there and to me it looked like a dog pissing on fire hydrants marking territory – so that stuff does happen. Here in Japan, because the culture is so different and because people don’t understand it right off people tend to jump to conclusions very quickly – “Oh you guys don’t know? I’m going to show you” – that happens much more. (CB: So maybe the guy going from London to Chicago or whatever, that kind of thing is more status or hierarchy driven?) Yes. I also think that it is more individually driven compared to here where they think they are teaching the Japanese people as a whole race “you guys just don’t know, let me show you”. I find the reactions to this rather interesting because sometimes the Japanese people that they are talking to just play along like “wow isn’t that interesting, that’s amazing”. Later though you find out that they were thinking “what an asshole”. Of course there are other times where they fight and disagree right from the start though.
I think that the Japanese way is not to reveal yourself or the cards that you hold right away. It takes time. They’re just more careful. Whereas in America and the U.K. it’s all just out there right away – take it or leave it. And also if someone challenges something you do or say people are usually thick-skinned enough to say “oh you’re right that’s a better way thank you”. In Japan though people don’t want to be embarrassed and they try very hard to avoid that. If they’re wrong about something they are punished or very harsh on themselves.”

Obstacles Involved with being Non-Japanese

Chris Berthelsen — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 02:00:28 +0000

“One major obstacle is that you have to speak the language. If you can’t speak Japanese you better be really good at what you do. You need good personal introductions. You need to prove yourself quite quickly. You need to be there. Also, I think that foreign companies are still viewed with suspicion. There is still a sense of ‘what can someone as a foreigner tell me about Japan?’ I think that is a problem. As a foreigner myself, if another foreigner came up to me and said ‘I’m a marketing consultant, I can do this that and the other’ I would say ‘Well what do you know about Japan?…are you Japanese? ‘no’ Well do you speak Japanese ‘no’….well then what are you basing this insight on?

I don’t speak fluent Japanese but you need to at the very least be able to navigate around an office and understand how protocol and meetings work. At least play the game. You can’t not speak the language and not play the game either. You have to know what you’re doing, for example, turning up for meetings. You might think that the meeting is pointless and that you don’t need to go along but you do…they want to see your face. That’s important. In the West you might get away with not turning up to meetings…you really do have to play the game here.”

Advantages to being Non-Japanese

Chris Berthelsen — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 07:00:02 +0000

“There are advantages to not being Japanese though. You can start jumping up and down and yelling ‘come on!’ but you could not do that if you were a Japanese person. There would be too many rules and obligations. Being a foreigner means that I can break those rules. I’ve been in brainstorming sessions with Japanese people sitting there silently and me thinking that the whole thing is rubbish. In order to liven things up a bit I have been able to say ‘come on, we can do this’ and start getting excited and acting like a cheerleader. And you know what? You start to get results. Maybe they feel that they can talk because it’s not a formal Japanese room.
We’ve done workshops in Japanese with foreigners in the room who spoke fluent Japanese and it’s learning the devices that people need to use – the icebreakers etcetera to get things moving. It’s having that cultural knowledge that the ‘brainstorm’ in the classic sense of the word does not work in Japan. You need to understand what works and what doesn’t work, and how you get the same results but in a different format. I don’t think that a Japanese person would put themselves in the same positions that I do. Sometimes I have seen moderators here, when we have used them to facilitate conversations and I have wanted to go over and shake them and tell them that we’re not getting what we need…that’s a bit frustrating….”

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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.
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Advice for New Managers

Chris Berthelsen — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 02:00:17 +0000

“You have to be enormously thick skinned. When a client says “no I’m not interested in that” three months later you have to be able to ask them what they are interested in. Then you need to be able to get enough information from them so that you can write a proposal. If you are entrepreneurial you have to be able to not take no for an answer and think about how you can make it a yes. I have been told ‘no’ so many times but I have turned them into a ‘yes’ a lot of times.
Perseverance is important. Client relationships take a long time to establish. If they don’t happen in five minutes (and they won’t) you have to believe that they might happen in a year’s time. You need to be able to keep up the cheery demeanor the whole time because it might turn into something.
Never burn bridges and never piss of a client. Once trust is broken it’s pretty much permanent. You can’t go back – this is true for all clients but particularly for Japanese. In Japan people tend to stay in their jobs for 30 years but overseas that marketing role is going to be filled by someone different in two year’s time, you know it is.
Also, don’t discount your rate too much. If you discount they might wonder what your problem is and start thinking that you might not be very good. Always have a good attitude about your pricing and stick with it. It’s not a barter society and I don’t think people are overly impressed if you come back with something cheaper because that is an indicator of being substandard.”

Hard to Pinpoint

Chris Berthelsen — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 07:00:43 +0000

Because I don’t speak Japanese I was treated pretty rough – everyone was fascinated with me but not fascinated enough to employ me. I think one reason for this was that they couldn’t pinpoint me. They couldn’t say “well you’re a computer engineer” or “OK you’re a this or a that”. What I do is very creative and therefore hard to summarize in a couple of words.

Bringing Value, Building Trust

Chris Berthelsen — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 07:00:33 +0000

I certainly do feel quite often (just as a gaijin walking down the street) that I am different and the way people treat me is different. It happens all the time. You’re never going to be Japanese and of course I don’t want to be Japanese but you know, there was never a problem when I was in Hong Kong. I didn’t need to be Chinese there but here there is a really big difference between being Japanese and non-Japanese. It was really great when I got to the stage where I could take a kind of ‘fuck you’ attitude (which I wasn’t able to when I was out looking for work in Japan). Now that I’m not looking for work and people actually need me it’s more interesting. (C:So that was a way to overcome the barrier of being non-Japanese?) Totally, there was and is a wall – a communication and understanding wall. But now people see me and they think ‘now this guy can actually teach me something’ – now, when I go and meet managers they ask me to introduce them to new things or ideas. Perhaps it’s a source of inspiration for them and they are using me as that bridge with the West. It’s an interesting position to be in and it does take a while to build that trust.

Rewire your Thinking, Learn to Communicate

Chris Berthelsen — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:00:58 +0000

I think that if you don’t know Japanese it will be tough but I wouldn’t say that it’s impossible because I’ve achieved my dream here. You just have to re-work your head because when you are in this country things don’t run your way, they run the Japanese way. So you have to rewire the way you think, not get irritated by it and find out how you can help. As a Westerner, people here are actually really interested in what you are going to say but the issue is working out how to communicate your message. You need to be really mindful and respectful. Understand that they may not understand what you are talking about even though they may understand the words that are coming out of your mouth – it’s a different way of thinking.

Intelligent Consumers

Chris Berthelsen — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 07:00:04 +0000

Another thing that I tell people when they are talking to me about bringing their products over here and saying things like “everyone says it’ll really do well in Japan” is that Japanese people aren’t stupid. They’re not stupid consumers, they are actually really intelligent consumers. People who have never even been to Japan before say these things. If you think that your brand is good enough to bring over here, tell me why. It’s incredibly important for you to know the marketplace before you get carried away. Come and visit, check it out, see if it really is the place for you because Tokyo is a tough city to live in. It’s expensive, it’s crowded, is that really what you want?

That’s some more advice that I always give people when they say “ah I’d love to live in Japan” – do you REALLY? Or do you just want to live in Memoirs of a Geisha? Do you want a Western interpretation of what Japan is?…because it’s really not like that.

Country Specific Skills

Chris Berthelsen — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:00:06 +0000

“(CB: Do you think that specific cultural training, experience or language skills are necessary or helpful? You mentioned earlier that the people who are really well versed in the language and culture are not the ones that are really successful…..)

Well, if you are coming in at Senior Manager level or something you will have come up through the ranks in your home country. People who are more acculturated to the Japanese environment will tend to be at the junior levels. There are cases where people do succeed because there are more job opportunities and different roles for people with a deeper knowledge of Japan and Japanese – you might look at a CV and be surprised that five years ago that person was teaching English. That’s a good thing but I think that there is a reason why you are being brought in as a foreigner. You’re not brought in because you’re able to fit in. Just because you’re able to understand the language it doesn’t mean that you are of the culture it just means that you have been sensitive to your environment. (C: So those skills are not a prerequisite for success in Japan?) No I don’t think so. I think that you need the curiosity to understand that people are different and that they may not always tell you what you want to hear……that they may not be that good at expressing their positions. When I say you need to listen, I mean that you’ve got to be sensitive to the vibe. Take a more holistic approach. I think that people will give you their best if they don’t feel threatened.”

Cultural Strength, Lose the Blinkers

Chris Berthelsen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:00:06 +0000

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.