by professor Iwao Nakatani
“If you want to be a professional, do this.” published in 2003 by Nihon Keizai Shimbun
He summarizes first-class professionals as follows:
Professionals put their life into their work. Amateurs are reluctant to exert their strength .
Professionals always set their sights high.
They get results.
They are grateful to those around them.
They believe that steady effort will always be rewarded.
They want to give back to the world by benefiting it.
(Contents)
@Conventional Japanese way of life:
-The postwar education system was all about cramming knowledge and not about thinking and asking oneself about one’s own way of thinking and the true nature of things. Even at the company, the style was to wait for support from the top. The company produced a large number of company people who did not have their own sense of values.
-The better college graduates are more conservative. In the U.S., people look for places where they can truly demonstrate their abilities. In Japan, people want to go where other talented people go (companies, government offices). There, people become cogs in the wheel, and become incompetent in 10 to 20 years. Traditionally, large zaibatsu-affiliated companies had the advantage. However, this has changed drastically over the past decade or so. The places where talented people can play an active role are diversifying.
-The postwar Japanese have developed a habit of not thinking deeply about things.
@Stick to your values:
-Imagine your future. When you have a goal, your actions will accelerate. The speed at which you acquire knowledge and experience will increase.
-Do you want to live the same life again at the moment of your death? The true professionals are the ones who have discovered their energy source and are happy to devote themselves to it.
-Before learning how to do something, you need to define a vision for your life = what makes you happy and what makes others happy. Then you can feel that you are making a difference in the world.
-If you really want to be this way, you are the only creature who can be that way.
Many people underestimate their own abilities. Everyone is a genius in his or her own field.
The folly of adult logic is that we should stop being such fools when we reach a good age. Follow it and you will regret it.
-Intuition comes from a sharpened awareness. It is also important to conceptualize this and speak logically. It is important to train yourself to be organized and concise, rather than just saying what comes to mind. The ability to express yourself is important.
-If you are truly moved and sincerely want to convey your message to others, and if you believe that your message will benefit them, they will understand.
The passion within you is important.
-English is important for everyone: reasons: internationalization of companies, and the spread of the Internet.
It is important to have what you want to say. Train hearing. It leads to understanding different cultures.
-I learned about my immaturity at Harvard. Then I studied hard to the death.
@How to become a professional:
Spend 10,000 hours on one thing: 8 hours a day for 5 years. This is how you will be able to eat. If you delve into your area of expertise, you will find a vein of ore (financial and human).
-Man is divided into free men and slaves. The former are those who can govern their own destiny, and the latter are those who leave their destiny to others. Today’s young people are not very many free people.
-Even in the workplace, the curse of a large, well-known company is strong. Japanese people have a tradition of wanting to act side by side with others. Becoming a true free spirit is the path to becoming a professional. To establish a clear sense of self, there is no shortcut other than for each individual to reexamine his or her own past and think carefully about what kind of life he or she wants to lead in the future.
-Furthermore, it is necessary to have a high level of consciousness to think about the nation and society.
(My Thoughts)
The author has a new life from where he left Nissan Motor, the leading big company of the time, and moved out of the elite course. And he has created a philosophy based on his own experiences.
He makes it a prerequisite to becoming a professional that you find something you love and devote yourself to it. And he says that if you focus 10,000 hours in that field, you will be good at it. It is not necessarily in a field everyone thinks good, but in a field where you can naturally work hard.
That is quite an uplifting quote.
He also wrote this book as an economist, with a firm grasp of the recent situation in Japan and the world, and as an educator, his sense of mission is to expect the best from young people.
The book is written in a very easy-to-understand manner, making it a quick read. It is also inspiring because it is passionately written about the author’s way of life. The book is a general introduction; he explains his philosophical, general, and fundamental stance.
As for the specific individual theories and methodologies, I think you need to supplement with other books.
