Learning through Film: Mushi-shi

Mushi-shi is an animation series based on a best-selling Japanese manga or graphic novel.

Set in an ambiguous time frame - it looks like the past, but feels contemporary - this series follows our hero Ginko, a wanderer who studies mushi: ghost-like creatures who live on the continuum between plant and animal.

Most people cannot see mushi, and are unaware of their existence, but they can affect humans greatly. Ginko can see them and he attracts them, so he has become a Mushi-shi.

This series has an X-files feel. In each episode we are presented with a problem or mystery that only Ginko can understand or address.

The series unfolds like a Japanese scroll, revealing secrets at its own pace. There is little action, yet each episode moves quickly. The feeling is philosophical and contemplative, the art is stunning, and the music is beautiful. Mushi-shi is, in simple terms, a masterpiece of its genre. A quick search on the internet will show you the universal acclaim it has earned.

You can learn quite a bit about Japanese culture from almost every episode. One of my favorites is episode #23, "The Sound of Rust". A young girl has an unusual singing voice that attracts a species of mushi. This mushi acts like rust and clings to everything in her village, including people (but is invisible to everyone except the girl and eventually Ginko). The girl stops singing or talking.

When Ginko enters the story, she is a young woman. The villagers are crippled my the mushi, and Ginko arrives to help. Ginko thinks he knows the cure and resolves to solve the problem.
In a scene we've all watched in movies a hundred times, the villagers now understand the cause of their problem, and rush to the young girls house, angry at this 'monster' for causing their pain.

Do they want blood? No.
Do they want revenge? No.
What do they want? An apology...

You know, just like in Frankenstein when the villagers rushed the castle with torches and asked for an apology!

This is a very Japanese phenomenon. Japanese love apologies.
If you mess up on your taxes, or any kind of government paperwork (I was once late for visa renewal) you must write a "gomennasai" (apology) letter.
"I'm sorry I caused the good people of the government so much difficulty due to my lack of consideration... blah, blah, blah...."
When you've shown proper humility, the process can move on.

When I lived in Japan, it seemed we were forever attending these "gomennasai" meetings with customers.
"I'm sorry we charge so much"
"I'm sorry the manuals are in English"
"I'm sorry your engineers broke the machine"

And so on... I actually became quite good at looking and sounding remorseful.

A couple of years ago, Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees broke his wrist on a diving attempt to catch a ball. He would be out for the season. He called a press conference and apologized to his team, the fans, and his Japanese fans for letting them down by being so vulnerable as to have a season-ending injury.
The New York media was stunned by this apology... they'd never seen anything like it.
This article in the Japan Times nicely summarizes the 'apology' gap.

Bottom line: Next time you have a problem working in Japan and you want to resolve it - you might want to start with 'gomennasai'.

Trying to Keep Up with Tom Peters

Today, we started a new 'lunch and learn' program in our cafeteria.

We kicked it off with one of  my heroes, Tom Peters, by playing  "Tom Peters Live: Re-imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age".

Tom Peters, 65 years young, has more energy than three 20 year-olds. And more anarchy, too! At $29.99, there is absolutely no reason for you to not experience Tom Peters. 

The ultimate management provocateur, Tom cannot go ten minutes without challenging the status quo. Whether he's refuting Jim Collins, ripping on MBA programs, or mocking Old White Male Syndrome - Tom certainly doesn't mince words.

We had 25 or so attendees, a lot of laughter, and even more nodding heads.

Here are three great take-aways from the presentation (Tom likes to quote others).

• “Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes.” - Phil Daniels, Sydney Exec
  
• “The ‘surplus society’ has a surplus of similar companies, employing similar people, with similar educational backgrounds, coming up with similar ideas, producing similar things, with similar prices and similar quality.” - Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale, Funky Business
• Michelangelo: “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”

Are You Leveraging Your Strengths?

Last week, I received Strengths Guru Marcus Buckingham's latest DVD "Go Put Your Strengths to Work". It captures an excellent live presentation and it's reasonably priced.

As attendees of my management workshops will attest, I'm a big Marcus fan.
If you don't know him, Marcus Buckingham is a former Gallup Organization researcher and current best selling management author. He also has the delivery of a stand-up comic, so he's fun to watch.

Earlier this year, I was showing a Buckingham video in India. I'd seen it a dozen times, so I pulled out my index cards and decided to practice sketching while the attendees watched. The result is above.

I'm not particularly good at drawing, but the act energizes me. That feeling fulfills one of Buckingham's basic definitions of a strength - a strength is something that strengthens you.

Not everyone agrees with his core belief that "you will grow the most in your areas of greatest strength". According to surveys, in fact, most people disagree with that statement.
His latest book, "Go Put Your Strengths to Work" addresses this.

I believe his thesis.
I (and my teams) have been most successful when I focused on bringing my strengths to the team - not on correcting my weaknesses.

When I've been in positions that don't call on my strengths, I did okay work. But I struggled, feeling drained at each day - not able to summon the energy to do outstanding work.
In my current role, which calls on all my strengths, I have endless energy.

I stumbled on this formula before I discovered Marcus, but his books helped me put it into words. They also helped me realize that I wasn't a slacker for not wanting to grunt and sweat my way through my weaknesses.
On my current team, as much as possible, we trade each others strengths for weaknesses, so that there are few times when we feel drained.

I'm lucky to be on such a team, but I'm only lucky because we know our strengths and communicate them...

If you're not so lucky, go to iTunes and search for Marcus Buckingham's "Take Control of Your Career and Your Life". This podcast shares his process to identify your strengths and bring them into your worklife.

As for me? I'll keep finding ways to draw at work!