When I look back on my presidency, some things went well, but, unfortunately, more things failed. The causes of the failures were, "We did not handle the problem in a suitable way," or, "The task was given to the wrong person," or, "Not enough follow-up," and so on. However, I have found a deeper reason. I regret that I did not do things thoroughly. There are different levels of effort in doing things, and there is a great difference between doing things reluctantly, and doing them thoroughly.

Toyota is successful today not because they constantly innovated, but because, as one book said, "They did the necessary tasks thoroughly." The scales fell from my eyes.
I highlighted that part with a pen without a moment's thought.

This thoroughness was imprinted in my brain, so while investigating the causes behind the things that did not come out as expected, I realized it might be because they were not done thoroughly.

Looking at this word, "thoroughness," again, I realize how hard it is to be thorough. However, from now on, I will pursue thoroughness persistently by expecting "the results that come from thoroughness." I will change my goal from being a popular president to being thorough.

At the end of last year, I had the luck to drink wine from my birth year. It was a birthday present from a close friend. I was born in 1948, so it was fifty-five years old. It was a Bordeaux Médoc. I invited the friend who gave it to me to my home, and we started tasting the wine. I watched his reaction, holding my breath. He had a strange expression on his face. At least, he did not seem impressed, but then again, he did not seem disappointed. My turn next. I took a sip of the red liquid from the great depths of the Bordeaux wine glass (I did not know they had a different shape than a Bourgogne wine glass) which I had bought for the occasion. The words, "vigorous, very lively" came to my mind. If I opened my mouth to say such things, Mr. Shinya Tasaki would make a face. However, it was my honest thought.

1948 is, unfortunately, not a great vintage year, so I did not have great expectations. However, I did not expect it to be so lively. Fifty-five is a respectable age for an old wine.
It is natural to think that such a wine would have a dignity suitable to its age. However, it tasted as if it were in its prime. In my thoughts, I unconsciously associated the wine's vigor to myself, and became happy. Of course, for someone in their sixties or seventies, fifty-five is still young. For me, almost in the latter half of my life, this 55 year-old wine was so vigorous, that, without thinking, I was happy: just like me!

1948 is not a great vintage year. Those who were born that year are still young. That is what Chateau Beychevelle taught me.

Early this year, two relatives passed away in succession. Five years ago, I had documents made up describing what should be done on my death by the company
(no company funeral) and what should be done concerning personal matters
(a posthumous Buddhist name is unnecessary), and gave these to the Department of General Affairs, and to my wife. However, to avoid confusion about what should be done after my death, I think I need to give instructions on more than just those two items.

As you know, we cannot predict when death will come. You will have a bit of lead time if you are unlucky enough to have a deadly disease, but you can also die suddenly in an accident, or in an attack. It is not difficult to imagine how overwhelmed the people left behind will be.

Religions have specific ceremonies associated to death. Also, many people no longer have a traditional funeral, but have something that is more like a farewell party.
Let's think about this. To avoid causing difficulties for the people around you, what should be done after you pass away should be clear.

Because instability causes anxiety, everyone likes stability. I thought about what the ultimate stability is. Ironically, it is death (Buddhist have a different interpretation).
Let's think about this. People want stability, but not death.

Think about human society, where life is awhirl, and all kinds of unbelievable things that should not occur are happening. It is instability itself. Among all the instabilities, there is the fantastic one of the growth of living things. So, if we look at life itself as instability,
we will not always be so anxious. Living is a positive instability. In life, we grasp at making the ambiguous certain, and therefore tolerable.

Thinking in business management terms, I want to accept instability, even though, of course, there will be ups and downs. I want to try to keep the state of positive instability as long as possible.

Values in the workplace have no meaning if they are not practiced. Our values are revealed for the first time through our actions.

Obun Printing has six values: face challenges, professional behavior; solve problems; communicate; teamwork; and create trust and a feeling of trust. These were decided in a vote among all employees.

The yearly management plan requires that management, "Practice ISO management, sharing values based on the management philosophy." Sharing values means being able to work, knowing that all employees share the same values. There are many values among the employees, but only those six must be shared. It is never totalitarian.
I want to be sure that you know this.

The title of this month's column was the theme of this year's meeting called "Encounter with the CEO." Twenty-five people were split into six groups, and each group has three meetings. The first meeting was held on April 19, and the last, December 15. The results of the first meeting were better than expected, and it became an enjoyable two hours. However, it is possible that only I enjoyed it. In the next issue, I would like to brag about the participants in the Encounter with the CEO.

A long time ago, the former president snapped at me, "Philosophy cannot feed you!" I do not remember how I argued against him, but if I were told the same thing now, I would reply, coolly, "Surely, I cannot feed myself without putting philosophy into practice."
No matter what you do, you need willpower. However, simply thinking about what needs to be done does not accomplish anything. If you have ambitions, to get moving, connect your willpower to action, and get results.
Now that is what having ambition means.
I have been thinking about these values, too. If I only mention them at the all-employee meeting about the management plan, or at the quarterly management conferences, the values will not spread through the company.

Well, the theme of the Encounter with the CEO was "Putting Values in Practice." Four of the six groups had finished their first meetings by May 27. I collected their impressions of the six values.
I first asked the participants which of the six values best suited them.
Next, I asked for the reason. As I listened to the answers, I began to realize that each employee defined the values differently.
If they understand the values differently, that is not good. I explained to them what the differences were.
I asked the same question again. Some repeated what they had said before, and others said something different.
Through this interchange, it was clear to me that these values are not usually part of our day-to-day lives.
This confirmed my feeling that, "this is not good."
When we talk about values, inevitably, we think idealistically. However, I said strongly to the participants, "I chose values as a theme because I want to make the company more profitable, and because I want to make a company that can satisfy employees who put in lots of effort."

I can certainly say that everybody became serious. Their expressions changed from being puzzled, "Why does the president stick to values?" to, "If he is putting in so much effort, he must really be serious," as what I was saying gradually reached them.

This change was wonderful. Without notice, I became more excited. The discussion was about attitudes towards work, so talk such as, "Do not make mistakes," "Work efficiently," or "Do more of whatever," did not come out at all.

I believe that it is natural that such talk did not come out because big results occur automatically when the consciousness (values) of dealing with work passes into action.
I will brag about the participants later, after we have had more meetings.

As people age, they have a tendency to become arrogant and irreverent. It is said that we are a social animal, however, when I see people behaving egotistically, I feel angry and miserable. Many people with common sense have written such things, so I will not say anything more.

Well, let's go back to, "Allowed to live." Normally I do not like such passiveness. To do whatever someone else says, to have everything decided for me.

"What do you want to eat?"
"Anything is OK."
"Where shall we go?"
"Anywhere is OK."

You cannot say that I am a person who relies on others (a person who seems to respect other people's opinions, but in fact has no will of their own). But if I were asked, "Are you living?" I would reply, "I am trying to live, but I have only been allowed to live."

I think people put in great effort because there are others who will notice it. Some people may deny this. So, please imagine that a world-scale nuclear war has occurred, and you are the only survivor.

Even if you have put lots of effort into something, there is no one else to notice. There is no other person to laugh with, and no other person to grieve with you. In this situation, do you think life would be worth living?

I want to assert that to live, you must think for yourself, but it is others who give you pleasure in life.

Recently, tears during stirring moments have become much more common for me than tears of sadness. I do not want to be told that it is because of my age. I am naturally an emotional person, but I try to hide my emotions because they are embarrassing. However, now, even when I try to hold them in, I cannot, and tears flow easily. The most emotional events are when long years of effort pay off. I am especially weak to such things.
When they happen in books or films, I am instantly affected. Tears come together with the feeling of, "Great! Fantastic! Your effort paid off!"

I do not know if I will ever affect others the same way.

The average number of strokes this year in ten rounds of golf was 83.5. The average drive was 240 yards. I used to practice a lot, and every week I went to the driving range. However, now I go rarely. Instead, I do image training. Actually, this is my own invention.
I watch pros swing on TV or in newspapers, and I tell myself, "Yes, you can swing that way." Or, thinking about swinging that way, I do the swing in the air without holding a club. About ten times. Result: my swing has improved through image training. Therefore, my meet rate has increased, and, even though my body strength is declining, the driving distance has increased.

The brain controls all movements except the reflexes, so, by inputting repeatedly, "I want this type of swing," the brain may order the muscles to follow the imprinted movement. Right now I find image training effective, and this is my interpretation of how it works.

If my interpretation is correct, image training can be used for anything. Well then, what can I image? Maybe achieving the business targets . . .

The company has a hundred-and-sixty employees, but because it has three locations,
I do not know without telephoning whether such-and-such a person is around, or if they are in good condition. Because of this, I decided that we should use e-mail. When I come to my office in the morning, I send "good morning e-mail." When I go home, I send "going home e-mail". The heads of the different sections, executives, including presidents of affiliated companies receive these e-mails. A total of just over twenty people. However, telling them that I have arrived, or that I am going home is not very interesting, so I add a few words.

I tell about things that happened the previous day, scoldings and encouragements, happy and sad things. However, there is only twelve hours between the going home
e-mail and the good morning e-mail, including sleeping time, so, to tell the truth,
I sometimes run out of topics. However, to continue this, I have to have something to say. In order to have something to say, I stick up an antenna. That reminds me. I started writing this Keiei Hitorigoto (Thoughts on Management), in February 2000, so I have now written fifty-seven columns. I think that, just like me, any president wants to deliver to their employees, stock holders, and to society.

Because the title, Hitorigoto (literally meaning "soliloquy"), sounds like a dog howling at the moon, it feels empty, and I am thinking of changing the title.

The 2004 Management Symposium, organized by the Japan Association of Graphic Arts Technology, was held November 1 at the Hatsumei Kaikan. The theme was, "Strategic Partnerships." I do not know why, but I was chosen to be a panelist. Here are my thoughts which I stated at that time. I have rearranged them a bit for this management soliloquy.

Before talking about partnership management, I would like to talk about partners. Concerning golf partners, we often hear people say, "Today I had good partners."
Your lifetime partners are your wife, or husband. Business partnerships are capital tie-ups, business tie-ups, or alliances that do not involve money or risk, like a friendly club. In any case, provided the partnership does not involve being taken over, or consolidation, it is a "flexible relationship." One more thing is needed for a good partnership - namely, win-win spirit. Even if you want a complementary relationship, without win-win spirit, the partnership will not work well. All partnerships are a flexible relationship.

Now, to begin the main topic, I would like to talk about Obun Printing's partnership management. Actually, we have three types of partnerships.

We share factories with our first partner. Part of the factory is rented out to them, and they supply a printing machine. They have two shifts. During one shift, Obun Printing shares workers with them. In addition, their before and after printing processes are handled by us. They can use our company's space at low cost, and can use our before and after processes as if they were within their own company. Printers usually have to transport their semi-finished products by truck in order to perform the next process.
Our partner saves these costs. Obun Printing is able to rent out dead space, and so get other income. Moreover, we get business from them because, of course, we perform their before and after processes. Also, when we have too much work, we used to have to outsource, but now, because our partner is in the same factory, we can ask them to do the production.

The second is a cooperative partnership. Our cooperative partner is a totally different company from the one just mentioned. They bring their already-existing market, that is, they already have customers, to the partnership. We bring our unique software technology. Technological development costs our partner time and money. Conversely, we could not enter their market, even with time and money, unless we were extremely lucky. Our partner's market is funeral direction. An example of our partnership is that we typeset the data on our servers, and send it to them via internet. They print it out on their own printers.

The third is EPC-Japan. This organization consists of fifteen printing companies, from Miyagi Prefecture in the north, to Fukuoka Prefecture in the south. The companies are found in Tokyo, and thirteen other prefectures. The organization has been in existence for thirty years. Obun Printing is the youngest member, even though we joined fifteen years ago. These fifteen companies are, in other words, relatives. When we ask about something we do not know, they always tell us. They even tell us about their president's annual salary. We discuss management, sales, production and general affairs.
The main sectional meetings are held three to five times a year, and there are a few subcommittees. EPC has two full-time employees, and they work actively at exchanging information, technical knowledge, and work.

I have just described Obun Printing's partnership management. If you do everything yourself, the 100% freedom is very attractive, but the merit and risk are also 100%.
Living alone is one way of life, but finding your "better half," and walking together, is another. Taking this human way of life into corporate management is a natural idea, isn't it?

When I listen to music with my wife, she reacts to the lyrics, but I react to the melody. Also, I once found a very interesting book, and wanted the executives to read and study it. I asked them all to read it, and asked for their impressions. The parts that resonated varied from executive to executive.

Also, for example, when people see someone walking towards them, some will see a good sense in clothes, some will see beautiful proportions, and some will see a graceful face. In this way, people may see the same object, yet each one sees something different.

Another example. If you tell someone, "I want you to be like that person," the part you want them to learn, and the part they want to learn are sometimes different. Therefore, if you do not say something like, "I want to you have that person's drive," or "I want you to have that person's caring disposition," you will not achieve your desire.

Communication is difficult if you do not do it carefully.