Planned Happenstance

Have you ever struggled for career choices? In general, the career center in Japan often tells us importance of setting a career goal. This means if we set our short term goal and long term goal, we can reach our destination easily.

Unfortunately, I have a negative image about setting a goal because of uncertainty in these days. This means our career plans are destroyed by unplanned events easily.

To be honest, I grew up surrounded by unpredictable world. When I was in Junior high school, I was really shocked by 9.11. Furthermore, one of the leading companies in the United States, Lehman Brothers went into bankruptcy due to the financial crisis when I entered University. As one misfortune followed another, massive Haiti and Chilean earthquake took place in 2010. This means not only us but also economists cannot predict our future because we are in a unpredictable world.

If we set a goal, it is hard for us to reach it because logical approach can be used only in logical world. Furthermore, it really difficult for us to deal with uncertainty and ambiguity flexibly if we have a clear career plan.

Are there any alternative career approaches?

In the last workshop I attended, I can learn the unique theory: Planned Happenstance. This is based on the chaos theory and it means to transform unplanned events into opportunities for learning.

Under the Planned Happenstance Theory, we do not have to have perfect career plan; however, this is definitely not about sitting in your bedroom and waiting for the right thing ti show up. The point is expecting the unexpected events and prepared for chance opportunities, such as unexpected phone calls, chance encounters, impromptu conversations and new experience.

Extroverted and Introverted

Have you ever thought about the relationship between personality and the way one learns a second language?

Based on my experiences, I strongly believe that our personalities have a strong influence on our learning styles. Basically, the best way to enhance our language abilities is to make friends who are native speakers. That is why most language learners study abroad. However, sometimes it is not easy for us in terms of our personalities.

I will assume that there are two types of personalities: extroverted and introverted. The former is more sociable, talkative and outgoing. Basically they tend to go to parties and hang out with friends actively .That is why it is easy for them to improve their language skills faster.

On the other hand, people who have introverted personalities like thinking and reading. Actually, I am typical introvert and when I meet people for the first time, I am always nervous about how to communicate with them. Furthermore, I like reading books rather than going to parties. That is why, compared to an extrovert, it is hard for me to make native-speaking friends.

According to Dr. Tim Rath, the famous writer of “Strengths Finder”, our personalities were created by environmental factors when we were teens. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for us to change them. The point is how we learn the second language in spite of an introverted personalities.

Although introverts have difficulties communicating with native people compared to extroverts, they also have advantages in enhancing their language skills effectively. Basically, they are good at reading and thinking. In my case, I make an effort to reading English books and write journals in English. This means it is easy for introverts to enhance his or her reading and writing skills.

How do you study your second language? Do you think your learning style is related to your personality?

Enter the Narrow Gate

The Japanese view on religion is a little bit different from the American point of view. Basically, the main Japanese religions are Shinto or Buddhism; however, most young people do not have any religion. Surprisingly we celebrate New Year, go to shrines and have a marriage ceremony at church. I assume that Japanese needed to absorb variety of cultures like a sponge because of geographical issues. It means Japan is an island country and we need to keep up with western countries.

To be honest, I have been attending the Bible discussion class since my friends gave me the Bible three month ago. Indeed I have no religion but learning the Bible is very informative and variable for me to understand the Western way of thinking. In addition, my father told me that if you go to Western countries, you had better read Shakespears and the Bible to learn cultural differences.

My favorite phrase is from Matthew 7:13" Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few find it."

Actually I could not figure out what the "narrow gate" was exactly at first. When I ask my friends, the answers are totally different. Someone said the narrow gate is "honesty" because to be honest all day long is really difficult for us. Another friends in my business class stated that "narrow gate" means niche　market and wide one is a mature market from economic point of view. That is why you have to choose narrow gate if you want to survive. Another opinion is that " narrow gate" means god. To do the right thing is always difficult for us. Learning the Bible is difficult but interesting.

Barbie's Next Career

Surprisingly enough, Barbie's next career is a computer engineer according to the New York Times on February 12 th. As the result of the survey, teens want to become a computer engineers in the future. Barbie also wears a neon-colored T-shirt with a binary code pattern and carries a smartphone and a Bluetooth headset.

Interestingly enough, looking at the comment column, Bill from Michigan states that " Forget it, Barbie, your gig has been outsourced to a hottie in Mumbai..." Furthermore, Daniel Pink, the famous author of "The Whole New Mind" also suggests that an algorithmic task such as computer programming is easy to outsource and replace with competitive workers from cheaper and faster developing countries.

Although the computer engineer has an image of sophistication all over the world, it will not easy for us to survive in the future if we decide our careers based on what Barbie does.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/barbies-next-career-computer-engineer/

Happiness

Although most people think about their happiness all day long, they cannot find it easily because it is an extreamely ambiguous thing. In recent years, it has been more difficult for us to define happiness than in past years because of affluence; we can buy whatever we want. That is, happiness is not necessarily wealth. I also consider all through the day what happiness is and what makes the human heart sing.

I believe that we will find happiness everywhere and it is familiar in everyday life. According to Leonardo Da Vinci, "looking" and "seeing" are different. He reflected sadly that average people looks without seeing, listens without hearing. touches without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness and so forth.

I strongly believe that happiness is in your mind and also nearby.The simple things in life can actually bring us happiness.

Twitter Bubble in Japan

Twitter users have been booming recently in Japan. I have been using twitter since last month. Although we have to spend more time if we join Twitter, it is a extremely variable and useful tool to get current information.

Twitter has two significant features compared to mixi or Facebook.First of all, Twitter is like a public journal. It is used a lot by celebrities and companies to attract people who are interested in being up-to-date. For example, in Japan one of the most famous authors Haruki Murakami, popular singer Utada Hikaru and famous tennis player Shuzo Matsuoka and Lang-8 also join Twitter. The second main feature is openness. It means we can access to people more easily.

More importantly, Twitter also has advantages for bilingual people to get current information all over the world because of time differences. If you can read Japanese, you can get up-to-date Japanese information in the morning and you can also get United States information in the afternoon. It means you can correct them for 24 hours.

According to Kenichi Oomae who is famous consultant in Japan, in the 21st century, what they said is more important than who they said. It means our 140 words in Twitter have the possibility to change the world.

Hope for the Best and Prepare for the Worst!

When I was in my teens, Japanese longed for American life, American films and American music. Furthermore, most of the competitive workers in Japan have studied English and got MBA in the United States in order to learn leading-edge business and after that they have worked as a manager or found their own companies to progress their careers. This is because America has been the most powerful country in the world and they have been generating innovative business models and excellent human resources. However, nowadays these situations are changing.

Dr. Fareed Zakaria, Indian journalist and also famous writer of "Post American World" states that although America probably remains one of the powerful countries in the world, we have to prepare for events that are likely to take place in developing countries. Have you ever thought about the world going on? Recently the highest ferris wheel in the world is in Singapore. The richest person in the world is not Bill Gates, just a Mexican guy. Surprisingly, the largest shopping mall is in China. The impressive sixth sense technology was invented by an Indian technologist. Moreover, the biggest film maker in the world is not Hollywood, but Bollywood in India.

Surprisingly, American students realize these facts and face the reality seriously. They are thinking how they will negotiate with the Chinese effectively and how they collaborate with people who are from UAE smoothly by trial and error. Although we cannot predict our future, we can prepare for our careers. We have to say hope for the best and prepare for the worst!

Flexpetz

Have you ever had a pet before? According to Harry Truman, if you want a friend, get a dog. Unfortunately, in my case, I have never had a pet before because I do not have enough money, time and I do not have an appropriate place. Flexpetz,one of the biggest pet rental industries, is here to solve our pet problems. http://www.flexpetz.com/

This impressive company provides dogs for customers using rental service. It is a good opportunity for us to decide if we want to keep pets and not have to spend a lot of money and time. However, the animal protection organization in US dissaproves of renting pets because animals are not like cars or furniture. Renting pets has become illegal in Boston in 2008.

On the other hand, in Japan the renting pet business has become popular in the elderly population. Senior citizens want comfort of pets. Furthermore, dogs are not only a recreation, entertainment but also a medicine in Japan. It means they have a significant role in healing people and society. The rental dog industry can provide senior citizens with pets and help them achieve a healthy, happy life.

How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci

I was lucky enough to get the impressive book titled " How to Think like Leonardo daVinci" written by Michael Gelb. Even though this book was published in 1998, it is very informative and valuable for us. As you may know, baby ducks learn to survive by imitating their mothers. Similarly, the best way to improve your potential abilities is looking for your "Roll Models". It helps us by guiding what we think and what we feel and what we do. This book shows us " Seven Da Vincian Principles" to become genius.

①Curiosita: An insatiably curious approach to life.
②Dimonstratzione: A commitment to test knowledge through experience.
③Sensazione: The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to clarify experience.
④Sfumato: A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty.
⑤Arte/Scienza: The development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination.
⑥Corporalita: The cultivation of ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.
⑦Connessione: A recognition and appreciation for the connectedness of all things and phenomena.

Today I will talk about "Curiosita". It means a desire to learn more. If you want to improve the Curiosita, you should carry a notebook or journal wherever you go and write down your ideas and questions whatever you want. For example, "How does a bird fly?" Why does it have two wings?" and so on. If you do this excise, your brain will be like Leonardo da Vinci.

Chaotic Career

What is your major? It is easy to answer it and we often use this question when we meet people for the first time. On the other hand, " What do you want to do after you graduate? " It is really difficult for us to answer it because our career choices are more unpredictable and complex than in past years.

In twenty century, we can use liner theories when we decide on our first careers after we graduate. It means there were strong relationships between our majors and first jobs. For example, the English major will be English teacher and business major will be working as banker and so forth; however, in the 21st century, our career choices is more chaotic. The college education is wide open to many more individuals regardless of gender, race, or career goal. Many students now choose a college education because of the interesting subjects they can study, not necessarily because of specific career plans.

For example, Nassim　Taleb who is the famous author of " Black Swan" was philosophy major and he is working as derivative trader now. Haruki Murakami who is famous novelist in Japan has ran a jazz bar when he was a college student and after that, he wrote the book at the age of 30. Keigo Higashino who is also famous author in Japan, majored in engineering.One of my friends Kyohei Yamamoto is business major and now he is working in Uganda. It means that our career is more complex and chaotic and it is difficult for us to choose our first career using liner thinking.

I strongly agree with Forrest Gump; life was like a box of chocolates and you never know what you're gonna get. That is why it is enjoyable.

Globalization Headaches at Whirlpool

MKT555/455Exam1

1. Consider the cultural issues we talked about in class. What cultural issues would Whirlpool have to consider for market planning in Sweden and Turkey.

2. Let's say Whirlpool has decided to launch a new compact washing machine globally. Rate the attractivenes of the following markets for Whirlpool using the case, external resources, and what you know from the text and lecture.

1. Brazil

2. Japan

3. Sierra Leone

3. Is Whirlpool using a global strategy? To what extent should Whirlpool standardize, adapt, and/or localize their strategy in each of the countries in #2? What would be the best mode of entry for whirlpool in each country in #2?

Chinese Negotiation

Surprisingly enough, China will soon become a leading English speaking country in the world. Since I started staying in the United States, I have been interested in China because half of international students enrolled here are Chinese. They are diligent and hardworking compared to other international students.

I am taking "Multinational Business Communication" in this semester and I had an opportunity to learn how to negotiate with Chinese effectively. One of the important tips is to built "Guanxi".Basically, it is translated as personal connections on which an individual can draw to secure resources or advantages when doing business as well as in the course of social life. The second tip is to minimize your "no". The most important value for Chinese is relationship. If we want to say " Do you understand?", we have to say " Are we being clear?". It means that to save face is extremely important when we negotiate with Chinese.

Hofstede Theory

I have been facing cultural differences between Japan and other countries since I started staying in the United States. When I was in high school, my father told me that America is called the melting pot or the salad　bowl where people who have different nationalities, values, religions can be accepted. I strongly agree with it. Actually, my roommates are from UAE and Spain. Needless to say, their cultural values are different from Japanese.

According to the Hofstede theory, which is the famous framework used to analyze cultural values. These are divided into five dimensions:①Individualism versus collectivism②Power distance③Uncertainty avoidance versus uncertainty tolerance④Masculinity versus femininity⑤Time orientation.

Based on this theory, the Arabic are collective oriented and polychronic culture. That is, time is an open- ended resource that is not to be constrained. But the fact remains that they are very punctual and individual oriented. It means learning culture in a class is really difficult for us because of the stereotype images and biases. Furthermore, culture has been changing gradually.

But on the other hand, Hofstede theory is sometimes useful for us when we meet people who are from different counties for the first time. We can predict what they think, what they feel and what they do. It means this theory is like a map that helps us get to the destination quickly, but it is just a map.

Why do you Study Second Language?

Why do you study English? This is an easy question for Japanese. If we can speak English, we could do business internationally. On the other hand, it is pretty hard for Americans to answer this question. "Why do you study a foreign language? " This is because if they want to do business internationally, everyone can use English wherever they go: South Africa, Singapore, India and so forth.

Although English is spoken all over the world and everyone can use English, I argue that learning foreign language is beneficial for us. There are two reasons for this: to communicate with people in the workplace and to make strong relationships with local people.

The first important reason is that we can communicate with people in workplace effectively if we learn foreign languages. To be sure, most people can speak English fluently, but on the other hand, this is true that there are many people who cannot speak English.

For example, in Japan, although studying English falls within the scope of compulsory education and if we work for leading company, we have to get high TOEIC score; however, most people cannot speak English fluently in business. This is because Japanese English education focuses on grammar and writing. That is why we can read English but not speak English very well. For these reasons, learning Japanese is extremely important for business person if they want to do business in Japan.

The second significant reason is that we can make strong relationships with local people effectively if you can speak Japanese. To communicate with people who are from other country in their language is the best way to have good impression.

For example, if we want to do business in Kyoto that is traditional city in Japan, we have to learn Japanese. Of course, people in Kyoto can speak English a little because of attracting tourists from all over the world; however, people who are originally from Kyoto do not want to speak English because they take pride in their culture and heritage. Therefore, communicating with local people in Japanese is an enormously essential point to make relationships with them.

Strengths Finder

I have read the impressive book titled "Strengths Finders" . If you get this book, you can take the "Strengths Finder assessment test". It helps us identify our potential abilities and shows how we improve them effectively. In my case, our potential abilities are Analytical, Individualization, Input, Intellection and Restorative according to ths results.

Suprisingly, this book states that our potential strengths were created by environmental factors in our teens. Therefore, we have to focus on our strengths, not weaknesses. Interestingly, this book points out the best way to improve our potential abilities and the relationship between talent and investment is to think of this formula:

Talent [a natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving] ×Investment [time spent practicing, developing your skills, and building your knowledge base] ＝Strengths [the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance]

This means that we have to invest time and energy in our potential abilities if we want to get our own strengths.

American Slang

One of my favorite things is collecting American slang. When I hung out with American friends for the first time, I was really shocked because I could not understand what they said at all. It means that they often used a lot of American slang.

Basically, Japanese English education focuses on only grammar, reading and writing. Therefore even though we have been studying English for more than 5 years in a class, it is really difficult for us to speak English and listen to them.

Fortunately I was lucky enough to make good American friends in a class so talking with them is the good opportunity for me to learn American slang.

For example, they told me " what the hell, what the heck, chilin, don't B.S. me!, go play in traffic, forget about it, pot calling the kettle black, fixin too, damn it, dong it, crap, it's driving me nuts, sup?, is that cool?, I don't give a hoot, peace out, hell nah and so on".

What is your favorite slang? Do you have any idea?

Culture

My favorite definition of culture is "Culture is like water a fish swim in" It states that it is difficult for us to learn culture because it is an extremely ambiguous thing.

When I took a class in the United States for the first time, I was really surprised by the cultural differences because American students were really aggressive compared to Japanese students.

Basically, American students like discussing and asking questions during the class. Furthermore, if we want to get high grades, we have to be good question asker.

On the other hand, in japan, we have to ask questions after the class or before the class because the professor has high authorities in the class room. That is why most Japanese had a lot of difficulty adapting to the class in the United States for the first time because of the cultural differences.

The Whole New Mind

Last week I was lucky enough to get the impressive book titled " A whole NewMind" written by Daniel Pink.

He suggests that we have to focus on our right brains instead of our left brains.
Basically in past centries, we have accomplished feats using our left brains.
We worked hard and thought logically;however, recently it is really important for us to shift to the creative industry from the knowledge industry using our right brains because of automation[IT] and globalization.In other words, the competitive workers from BRICs countries can work cheaper than us.He states that we have to prepare for creatve industries in the future but I do not know what I should do.

Strengths and Ｈobbies

I am taking a Leadership class now.

It is very informative and valuable for me to learn the leadership style, and how we can manage people more effectively.

Last week Dr. Hill assigned us to write own biography because to recover our memories in our teens are really important for us to discover our potential strengths. When I was writing my biography, I was faced with huge problems.

Usually our strengths and hobbies are the same; however, for me, they are totally different.For example, I like thinking logically but I have trouble in numbers.

My question is which should I focus on strengths or hobbies when I chose my first career?

One of my friends advised me " I think the world would be a much better place if everybody pursued what made them truly happy and content. Maybe you can find a way to combine your strengths and you hobbies?"