Managing for Creativity in Japan Talking with Foreign Executives in Japan
Characteristics of a Successful Manager
Marking Territory vs. Teaching a Race
“…Later though you find out that they were thinking “what an asshole”….”
Advantages to being Non-Japanese
“….There would be too many rules and obligations. Being a foreigner means that I can break those rules….”
Advice for New Managers
“You have to be enormously thick skinned….”
To Be Successful in Japan
“….You really have to be able to work within shades of grey in Japan….”
Rewire your Thinking, Learn to Communicate
“…people here are actually really interested in what you are going to say but the issue is working out how to communicate your message…”
Advice for Managers in Japan
“….It’s a case of really, genuinely, listening, and that’s a challenge….”
Country Specific Skills
“…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….”
Tension with the Home Office
“….Anybody who is coming into the market thinking that they are going to make a quick profit in two years is just delusional….”
Characteristics of a Successful Manager
“….there is probably a heavier emphasis on the ability to trust and rely on others, and to listen intuitively…..”
Becoming More Collaborative
“…and you also don’t want to make your clients look bad by knowing more than them…… That’s fatal to creativity….”
On Choosing your Successor
“…I would be looking for somebody who can embrace change….”
On Being Open
“….there are cultural risks wherever you go but at least in other cases the language is the same…”
Don’t Teach, Learn
“…Because they don’t have a long-term commitment to be here they need to get results quick….”
Contribute, Don’t Preach
“..when I have come across negative things I have had to be very sensitive to the fact that I am not here to teach…”
Important to Have Non-Japanese Managers for Japan
“I think there are many markets where we have an office where a local appointee can do the job just as well as an ex-pat but I think that there is an argument that you need an ex-pat if you are a foreign company in Japan. One reason for that is that you can come [...]
Advice to New Managers
“I suppose that I would let them know that people management is quite a big part of the job here. I wouldn’t talk about individuals at that point because they need to form their own opinions on the team – who’s good and who isn’t. But the team here has worked together for a long [...]
Personal Relationships
“First of all you don’t have those personal relationships so you need get out socialising. You need to do the Japanese thing. You need to go out in the evening and you need to drink. You need to drink and you need to go to karaoke. You need to do whatever it takes to get [...]
On Being Successful
“I think you need to break away from the group. Respect it but try to break away from it. Pick staff who have good experience but who are slightly renegade. I’m talking about local staff here. If you are going to come in and set up a company you need local staff. But, when you [...]
