ACCJ Journal » Executive Summary

APCAC BUSINESS SUMMIT

ACCJ Journal — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:58:22 +0000

The APCAC Business Summit that ACCJ will host March 1 and 2 will be an excellent opportunity to learn what is going on in Japan and around the Asian region. Topics have been designed to give attendees information on a wide range of subjects from disaster recovery and supply chain management to the best ideas of how to stimulate growth in APCAC member economies. A panel of experts will explore what the Trans Pacific Partnership means for Japan and for the future of American business in Asia. ACCJ is in the information dissemination business and you need to be at the APCAC meeting to tap into this rich vein of ideas, trends and insights from Asia’s private and public sector leaders.

Sam Kidder, ACCJ Executive Director

In addition to information, ACCJ also works hard at our second pillar of activity, advocacy. The APCAC Summit provides a very interesting angle in this regard. ACCJ speaks to the Japanese government through many channels. We have our annual Diet Door Knock; we have regular events with Japanese Diet Members and ministry officials. We produce a wide range of Viewpoints and other advocacy documents that we use in our discussions with policy makers. But the APCAC opportunity is more indirect. APCAC will put American business interests in a broader Asian context and thus will present our Japanese colleagues with a window to look beyond our bilateral discussions. The Obama Administration has been talking about a “pivot” towards increased American engagement in Asia this year. The APCAC Summit is an opportunity for American officials to showcase this policy direction.

But perhaps most significant, the APCAC Summit will be a wonderful networking opportunity. Not only will attendees be able to hear from and interact with the best and the brightest from Japan and America but there will also be dozens of people both on the podium and in the audience with wide experience throughout the region. We will be hosting the Senior Commercial Officers from APCAC member countries and you will be able to schedule one-on-one meetings to take advantage of their wealth of local knowledge. In two days in Tokyo you will be able to accomplish much of what you might try to do in several weeks of traveling in the region.

In addition to conversations over meals and networking in the corridors of the conference, Ambassador Roos has agreed to host a reception at the Embassy Residence and there are plans for other social activities that will allow for many mixing opportunities.

But you need to be there, or rather, here. So if you haven’t signed up yet, please take a look at our site at www.apcacjapan.com and register. You’ll want to be part of this crowd.

SUJI PARK

ACCJ Journal — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:00:39 +0000

Illustration by Adam Fitzcharles

If you are a member of the nearby ACCJ, or simply a well-connected American living in Tokyo, chances are that you’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the amazingly authentic American cuisine at Suji’s (www.sujis.net). Founded by Suji Park, the restaurant chain (one in Park’s native Korea, and one in Japan) was inspired by the founder’s love of the unique food she experienced while living in New York City. Here Park takes a moment to reveal some of the aspects of her managerial style that have allowed her to succeed in two countries, delivering the tastiest aspect of the American experience.

01 Journal: How visible/transparent are you to your professional peers/competitors?
Park: I am a firm believer in sharing and receiving best practices within the industry—I have great confidence in the competitiveness of our company. I also believe transparency is critical to empowering and motivating our employees. I try to be as transparent as possible by establishing internal systems to share information. We are constantly striving to overcome communication bottlenecks.

02 Journal: What was your most recent, big mistake?
Park: We recently hired a manager for one of our overseas branches. My initial impression was very positive—the manager possessed a good pedigree, and came off impressively during the hiring process. I was very confident about the hire. However, we ran into a number of problems resulting from the branch staff’s growing discontent with his managerial skills. Ignoring the staff’s concerns, and relying on my initial impressions as a good long-term choice, I kept the manager in place. Upon bringing the manager to Japan from the overseas branch, I quickly realized first hand that our staff was correct in their judgment and ultimately we had to let the manager go. It provided me with an extremely valuable reminder that I must take into account when I am not on the ground: placing more value on localized intelligence.

03 Journal: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?
Park: I would estimate that it’s about 70 percent. Improving my decision-making ability is a constant and iterative process. This business is about people, and I believe we wouldn’t have seen the success we have were it not for the emotional, passionate desire to serve people. In our infancy it was a small, startup environment and many decisions were made purely on this passion. However, as I and the organization grow, we become more astute as to the logic behind good decision making and so logic plays much more of a role than before. However, again, this business is about a passion for serving people and we must never lose sight of that.

04 Journal: When you are away from your office, do you ever worry what is happening in your absence?
Park: No. We have offices in Seoul and Tokyo. In Korea, I am focused on Korea, and in Tokyo I am focused on Tokyo. Worrying expends also a lot of negative energy that could be spent on solving other issues. I really believe in empowering my staff to be effective decision makers in my absence.

05 Journal: What are your top three strengths?
Park: 1) Delegating: I strive to find good people that I can trust and delegate workload to. A focus on training and building skill sets has been paramount to our organizational growth, in fact most of my workload involves training our staff. I can then delegate and once we set a course of action, entrust my staff to complete our mission successfully. 2) Positive attitude: We are in the business of serving people, and always maintaining a positive attitude is critical. 3) Driven : I have always been very goal-oriented and driven to work towards achieving those goals. I view the hospitality business to chiefly be a problem solving business. I am always striving to stay on top of problems and not let them simmer.

06 Journal: How do you take personal responsibility when you get things wrong?
Park: I assume full responsibility for anything that happens at Suji’s. Ultimately, as head of the organization my staff must trust that they have my full support, which in turn creates an environment for outside-of-the-box thinking. I can be very tough, but at the end of the day by taking full responsibility for the negative outcomes and giving credit for the good ones, it motivates my staff to perform above expectations.

07 Journal: If you were stripped of your current professional position, what would be your next move?
Park: I cannot think of anything I would rather do than run Suji’s. This is my passion.

The Best of 2010

ACCJ Journal — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:01:16 +0000

When we came up with the idea that ultimately became “Executive Summary” our intention was to use the monthly feature as a kind of MBA-level, sound-byte machine, delivering choice morsels of executive experience, insight and corporate wisdom, with a dash of irreverence. In this case, Japan’s business culture of tight-lipped conservatism made the questions embedded in the Executive Summary format more challenging for some than we had expected. Speaking candidly about one’s personal faults and offering insight into the most intimate aspects of one’s executive management strategy can be a rather grueling exercise in delicate candor for many accustomed to the Japanese method of subtlety-first business communication.

Nevertheless, it is the very discomfort and tension that these questions sometimes engender that typifies the challenges of international and cross-cultural business communication we will all need to excel at as the planet shrinks due to easier modes of travel and the increasing commonality of tele-presence business transactions. It is our hope that these personal messages from some of the most dynamic executives and entrepreneurs in Japan and America have given you as much insight and excitement as they have given the Journal team. The following are some of the more interesting quotes from the 2010 series of Executive Summary appearances. Enjoy!

David Taylor
Author of “The Naked Leader”
Illustrations by Adam Fitzcharles

“All of my decisions are made more on the basis of emotion first, and then I stack up the logic to support that first decision. In this 100 percent decision by emotion, I am exactly the same as everyone else in the world. Everyone makes every decision on the basis of one or two emotional factors–will it move them away from pain or closer to pleasure.”

Joi Ito
CEO, Creative Commons/Venture Capitalist

“I try not to involve emotion in my decision-making and I believe very little of my decisions are based on emotion. However, logic is also not enough. I always allow a healthy dose of intuition in my decision-making.”

Nobuhiko Hidaka
President, Gartner Japan

“I try to base my decisions on logic 100 percent of the time. Sometimes, however, I need to make strategic decisions based on my intuition because I have learned that there is rarely an absolute ‘right,’ or ‘wrong’ answer in business.”

Jon Yongfook Cockle
Director, Glamour Sales/Software Developer

“I tweet quite relentlessly so my life is quite open on both personal and professional levels. My advice: Be as transparent as possible, but keep an ace up your sleeve once in a while. People like to be surprised now and again.”

Wally Amos
Founder of Famous Amos Cookies

“I’m at a point in my life where I know what I ‘don’t know,’ which is humbling. I know that I don’t always know the answers, so that keeps me open to receiving answers from everywhere.”

Shervin Pishevar
Founder of Social Gaming Network

“I thrive on mistakes. When you are living on the razor’s edge of innovation you have to have a thick skin. The key is how fast you iterate, adjust and pivot, and how far out your tentacles are sensing the signal noise of market and consumer trends. The greatest lesson I’ve learned is about people and timing.”

Steve Rubel Senior
Vice President, Edelman Digital

“I try to base the majority [of my decisions] on logic, pulling in multiple opinions from people who think differently than I do, especially my teammates. It’s something I picked up from studying President Obama.”

Heather Russell
CEO, Rinkya.com

“Whenever anyone gets something wrong, we all sit down and talk about the what, when, why and how regarding how to prevent that mistake from happening again. Admitting one is wrong not only plays into the notion of teamwork, but also reinforces the overall cohesiveness of the team.”

Nobuhiko Hidaka

ACCJ Journal — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:01:16 +0000

Illustration by Adam Fitzcharles

As one of the world’s leading information technology research firms with over 1,200 research analysts and clients in 80 countries, Gartner has firmly established itself in the U.S. as a primary source of rich information when it comes to predicting industry trends and market pivots. Gartner Japan is similarly engaged in divining the future of Japan and Asia’s newly turbulent and exciting tech sector.

Fully bilingual and comfortable engaging in Western-style business, Nobuhiko Hidaka, Gartner Japan’s President since 2003, is one of Japan’s most insightful thought leaders on the topic of emerging technologies. And, as a former software developer for the 1980s-era IBM, Hidaka is uniquely equipped to translate the business lessons and innovations of the past into relevant indicators for current technology trends and paradigm shifts of the future. With Gartner Japan’s recent Symposium/ITxpo 2010 successfully wrapped up, Hidaka took a moment to give us some insight into his management style.

01 | Journal: How visible/transparent are you to your professional peers?

Hidaka: I make every effort to make myself visible because I want people to know the value of the overall advice and strategic information we are offering here at Gartner Japan.

02 | Journal: What was your most recent, big mistake?

Hidaka: I was unable to arrange a proper time to meet with my respected friend/customer and had to leave the lunch meeting prior to the promised time. These are the sort of things I try to avoid the most as I believe it is extremely rude.

03 | Journal: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?

Hidaka: I try to base my decisions on logic 100 percent of the time. Sometimes, however, I need to make strategic decisions based on my intuition because I have learned that there is rarely an absolute “right,” or “wrong” answer in business.

04 | Journal: When you travel abroad (outside of Japan) what is the thing that most often surprises you?

Hidaka: How common the business issues are in the world and how much closer we are becoming, no matter where you live.

05 | Journal: What are your top three strengths?

Hidaka:
- The ability to picture the future of technologies and their use in business based on my background in both.
- Communication skills, including intercultural communication.
- An understanding of business culture in various countries.

06 | Journal: How do you take personal responsibility when you get things wrong?

Hidaka: First, I make everything transparent to every stakeholder. Then, I take full responsibility from an objective viewpoint. Although I always try to minimize risk through prediction, visualization, etc.

07 | Journal: If you were stripped of your current professional position, do you think your ideas and approach would still resonate with those you interact with?

Hidaka: I one-hundred percent believe they would.

Rocky Eda

ACCJ Journal — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 15:00:05 +0000

Illustration by www.hawkenking.com

Formerly of the Nikkei and Technorati Japan, Rocky Eda now operates as Manager at Digital Garage (a technology incubator) working on business development for Twitter Japan as it increases its momentum and reach as the world’s most popular micro-blogging social media tool.

Back in the U.S., Twitter co-founder Evan Willams just handed the CEO reigns over to Dick Costolo, the founder of FeedBurner, a company eventually acquired by Google in 2007. Williams also sold a company (Blogger.com) to Google back in 2003, but when pressed about the chances of selling Twitter, the low-key innovator indicates that such a prospect is not even on the table.

Now as Twitter Japan looks poised to overtake the U.S. in terms of popularity and reach in the mainstream, Eda offers an interesting, yet studiously guarded inside view of Japan’s most interesting social media phenomenon.

01 | JOURNAL: What was the key to Twitter’s initial success in Japan?

EDA: I think its simplicity was the key. In fact, the traffic from Japan was quite high even when the Japanese site didn’t exist.

02 | JOURNAL: Will Twitter Japan follow the social media trend of user-services/e-commerce, or is advertising the main focus for long term profitability?

EDA: Since Twitter is operated by Twitter instead of Digital Garage, I can’t answer this type of question.

03 | JOURNAL: Is there a difference in the general topics or style of messages posted by Japanese Twitter users compared to Western users?

EDA: Japanese users can put more information in 140 characters compared to Western users. I think this makes an essential difference. For example, retweeting with a small sentence by a series of users is pretty normal among Japanese users. That is relatively difficult for Western users because the original tweet consumes many characters and room for additional phrases by retweeters is very limited.

04| JOURNAL: Demographically where do you see Twitter Japan’s biggest growth coming from?

EDA: We can’t disclose any data regarding demographics.

05 | JOURNAL: How involved is the U.S. Twitter office with the operations for Twitter Japan?

EDA: We are working closely with U.S. Twitter team.

06 | JOURNAL: What does the Twitter Japan team intend to do to keep that growth going in 2011?

EDA: We will continuously help Twitter while simultaneously paying close attention to maintaining the Twitter eco-system in Japan.

Heather Russell

ACCJ Journal — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 15:01:55 +0000

Just two years after arriving in Japan back in 2000 from the U.S., Rinkya.com founder and CEO Heather Russell discovered an underserved niche in the growing field of online sales, auctions and fulfilling the needs of international customers like herself interested in acquiring items unique to Japan. Leveraging her ability to network and facilitate consumer sales in an outgoing and efficient manner, Russell’s business quickly expanded at which point she recruited her family members to join the management team.

Today, as one of the few successful female, independent American entrepreneurs in Japan, Russell now employs a staff of 20, supported by a handful of independent contractors. With a matter-of-fact, yet passionate approach to life as a foreigner in Japan, Russell serves as an example that the typically American bootstrap start-up mentality is indeed possible in Japan.

Illustration by Adam Fitzcharles

01 | JOURNAL: How visible/transparent are you to your professional peers?

Russell: I don’t think I’m much of a secret. If I put on an act, you would see right through it. Harmonizing two cultures requires a bit of honesty or you lose it, so you form the habit.

02 | JOURNAL: What was your most recent, big mistake?

Russell: I cut a corner where I shouldn’t have. Unfortunately, I had to move backwards and fix it, consequently losing more time and money. Oftentimes, failure to recognize a mistake is the biggest mistake.

03 | JOURNAL: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?

Russell: I lean more towards logic every time. And I try to quantify every situation, because numbers are infallible. Embrace that finite mathematics class, my friends!

04 | JOURNAL: When you travel abroad (outside of the U.S.) what is the most frequent, yet surprising response to your work?

Russell: Well aside from “How’s the sushi?” and “Have you climbed Mt. Fuji?” the most surprising response to my work is, “Can you get me one of those fake Louis Vuitton bags from China?” At Rinkya, we deal in authenticity and Japanese merchants (as we are located in Japan).

05 | JOURNAL: What are your top three strengths?

Russell: Passionate, Funny, Fearless.

06 | JOURNAL: How do you take personal responsibility when you get things wrong?

Russell: Whenever anyone gets something wrong, we all sit down and talk about the what, when, why and how regarding how to prevent that mistake from happening again. Admitting one is wrong not only plays into the notion of teamwork, but also reinforces the overall cohesiveness of the team.

07 | JOURNAL: If you were stripped of your current professional position, do you think your ideas and approach would still resonate with those you interact with?

Russell: My ideas and approach are constantly changing and propagating into new directions due to this fast-paced new social media environment we have been thrust into.

Wally Amos

ACCJ Journal — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 07:00:57 +0000

Illustration by Adam Fitzcharles

The story of Wally Amos reads like a cinematic tribute to the power of the American entrepreneurial spirit and, at 74 years old, his optimism only seems to be gaining steam. A native of Florida and a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Amos served as a pioneering force in the entertainment business decades ago as an agent for the William Morris Talent Agency guiding the careers of music legends such as The Supremes, Simon & Garfunkle and Marvin Gaye. Then in 1975 Amos came up with the idea of harnessing his connections and dynamic resourcefulness into his own cookie business, a brand that is now known worldwide as Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies. After years of high profile success, Amos moved on and the brand eventually joined the Kellogg Company.

A side effect of Amos’ business leadership has been his outreach work in the field of literacy, serving as the National Spokesperson for the Literacy Volunteers of America from 1979 to 2002, a role that made him a regular fixture on American public television, and a cause he continues to champion. Today, Amos heads a new venture called Chip & Cookie with retail locations in Oahu, in the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki and Kailua Town, Hawaii and plans to open up shop here in Japan sometime in 2011.

01 | JOURNAL: How visible/transparent are you to your professional peers?

Amos: My life is an open book. In face I’ve written nine books that all, in various ways, offer insight into my life. I don’t think one can ever be too transparent.

02 | JOURNAL: What was your most recent, big mistake?

Amos: I don’t believe that mistakes are bad. A mistake means you just missed the mark. For example, a recording artist typically records hundreds of takes. Afterward everyone comes in and listens collectively. Through this process the best take is usually revealed. In life, every experience is a learning experience an each one gets you closer to the result you desire.

03 | JOURNAL: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?

Amos: I base decisions on experience and my spiritual understanding. Logic without experience and a spiritual awareness is not very valuable.

04 | JOURNAL: When you travel abroad (outside of the U.S.) what is the most frequent, yet surprising response to your work?

Amos: I just had a great experience visiting Malaysia after a long absence. There are over 60 Famous Amos stores there. I am probably more famous there than in America. Basically, I’m just amazed that people still remember me in so many different international markets.

05 | JOURNAL: What are your top three strengths?

Amos: Enthusiasm. Strong faith. And…I’m at at a point in my life where I know what I “don’t know,” which is humbling. I know that I don’t always know the answers, so that keeps me open to receiving answers from everywhere.

06 | JOURNAL: How do you take personal responsibility when you get things wrong?

Amos: I own up to it. I lost Famous Amos years ago and I don’t blame anyone else for it.

07 | JOURNAL: If you were stripped of your current professional position, do you think your ideas and approach would still resonate with those you interact with?

Amos: Yes. I believe this because my ideas come from God, and my ideas are based on a spiritual understanding.

SHERVIN PISHEVAR

ACCJ Journal — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 08:09:12 +0000

Illustration by Adam Fitzcharles

Shervin Pishevar displayed his knack for financing bold tech ventures early on by raising over $10 million for his startup myWebOS back in 1997 when he was just 23 years old. Since then Pishevar has continued to push the innovation envelope by raising well over $40 million in venture funding for various startups. SGN (Social Gaming Network), the company he founded earlier this year, is already taking the mobile gaming industry in the U.S. by storm with millions of installs on the iPhone and a major presence on Facebook. Pishevar also served as a member of the Technology, Media & Telecommunications policy group that worked to create the Obama Technology & Innovation Plan. With angel investments in leading-edge new companies such as Gowalla, Aardvark, Thread.com, and Kissmetrics, Pishevar, knee deep in the new U.S. corporate culture of transparent business, offers a peek into his approach.

01 JOURNAL: How visible/transparent are you to your professional peers?
PISHEVAR: 100 percent transparent. The currency of business and investing is trust.

02 JOURNAL: What was your most recent, big mistake?
PISHEVAR: I thrive on mistakes. When you are living on the razor’s edge of innovation you have to have a thick skin. The key is how fast you iterate, adjust and pivot and how far out your tentacles are sensing the signal noise of market and consumer trends. The greatest lesson I’ve learned is about people and timing. My most recent, biggest mistake was not launching a product sooner than I should have.

03 JOURNAL: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?
PISHEVAR: Great entrepreneurs and angel investors are driven by a core of intuition and instincts informed by logic. So I would say 60/40. If logic was the majority this would be a boring world with cycles of innovation.

04 JOURNAL: When you travel abroad (outside of Japan) what is the most frequent, yet surprising response to your work?
PISHEVAR: Actually, the most frequent and surprising response is the absolute passion and excitement that entrepreneurship and the Silicon Valley way of thinking has inspired around the world. Silicon Valley is an idea that is spreading everywhere virally.

05 JOURNAL: What are your top three strengths?
PISHEVAR: Passion. Commitment. Honesty.

06 JOURNAL: How do you take personal responsibility when you get things wrong?
PISHEVAR: Own it. I never shy away from taking responsibility. A leader should always take the responsibility and focus on solutions rather than on blame.

07 JOURNAL: If you were stripped of your current professional position, do you think your ideas and approach would still resonate with those you interact with?
PISHEVAR: Yes. My position has very little to do with it. I believe in people and I focus on finding and inspiring and helping incredible talent achieve their dreams as entrepreneurs. I do that as human being first, not a position.

Jon Yongfook Cockle

ACCJ Journal — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:00:33 +0000

Jon Yongfook Cockle is something of a modern-day digital renaissance man. With previous stints as a consultant for Dentsu, Avenue A and Razorfish, playing violin in a symphony orchestra, pioneering two SaaS (Software as a service) platforms, and selling his first Internet company, Nibbledish, a food recipe social network, all before the age of 30, Cockle embodies today’s notion of the always-on, globally connected, digitally-enabled businessman. Currently a Director at the high-end commerce site Glamour Sales (www.glamour-sales.com), Cockle offers some insight into his unique corporate methodology.

Q&A

Illustration by Adam Fitzcharles

01 | JOURNAL: How visible/transparent are you to your professional peers?

Cockle: I tweet quite relentlessly (twitter.com/yongfook) so my life is quite open on both personal and professional levels. My advice: Be as transparent as possible, but keep an ace up your sleeve once in a while. People like to be surprised now and again.

02 | JOURNAL: What was your most recent, big mistake?

Cockle: I can’t be specific, but the reason for the mistake was not going with my gut. Some part of me knew it would be a mistake, but I went ahead anyway. I listen to my gut more now—I’ve given my gut a board seat with veto rights.

03 | JOURNAL: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?

Cockle: I base small decisions on logic. Large decisions on emotion. It’s easy to quantify and measure the results of small decisions, so it’s easy to govern them with metrics and logic. Decisions based around product features, design etc.—these are metrics driven decisions for me. Decisions based around partnerships or big marketing spends on new or untested channels, those are more emotional.

04 | JOURNAL: When you travel abroad (outside of Japan) what is the most frequent, yet surprising response to your work?

Cockle: When I was in China most people I met with couldn’t believe operating with the small teams I work with. In my experience you definitely can do more with less (people) in Japan than in China. Fixed costs, however…

05 | JOURNAL: What are your top three strengths?

Cockle: 1) I know what I want. 2) I can quickly break down a large problem into smaller pieces. 3) I’m happy.

06 | JOURNAL: How do you take personal responsibility when you get things wrong?

Cockle: I am open about it and make sure the right people know: 1) Why the problem happened, and 2) What steps have been taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
I’ve even shaved my head once, Japanese salaryman style, in a display of my apology.

07 | JOURNAL: If you were stripped of your current professional position, do you think your ideas and approach would still resonate with those you interact with?

Cockle: Yes. Twitter and blogs give people the ability to cultivate their own personal brand, regardless of what their professional title is.

Steve Rubel

ACCJ Journal — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:01:41 +0000

In the field of communicating ideas to the masses, Edelman stands as one of the biggest players on the planet, which is why Steve Rubel, Senior Vice President, Edelman Digital, a division of Edelman, determined years ago that his role as a public relations expert would need a decidedly new digital edge. Working with some of the biggest brands in America such as Kraft Foods, Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Starbucks and others, Edelman is at the forefront of devising ways to capture customer attention in a rapidly changing mediascape. Rubel has recently focused his efforts on a new initiative within the company called Edelman Digital, a digital and social marketing division designed to harness the power of the Internet and social media to reach customers and increase brand awareness.

Q&A

Illustration by Adam Fitzcharles

01 | JOURNAL: How visible/transparent are you to your professional peers?

Rubel: It’s a mix—much of my thoughts about the Internet and where it’s going is transparent to everyone, some is only for our clients and teams and some is for an even smaller group. My personal life is personal.

02 | JOURNAL: What was your most recent, big mistake?

Rubel: Overestimating the importance of channels rather than watching people.

03 | JOURNAL: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?

Rubel: I try to base the majority on logic, pulling in multiple opinions from people who think differently than I do, especially my teammates. It’s something I picked up from studying President Obama.

04 | JOURNAL: When you travel abroad (outside of the U.S.) what is the most frequent, yet surprising response to your work?

Rubel: That I am willing to admit I don’t have all the answers, particularly about the markets that I visit.

05 | JOURNAL: What are your top three strengths?

Rubel: 1) Big picture thinking. 2) Observing trends/patterns from multiple points of view. 3) Understanding technology and how people use it.

06 | JOURNAL: How do you take personal responsibility when you get things wrong?

Rubel: I apologize, own the mistake and try never to make the same mistake twice.

07 | JOURNAL: If you were stripped of your current professional position, do you think your ideas and approach would still resonate with those you interact with?

Rubel: Yes, but I have no plans to go anywhere. Edelman and I have a great mutually beneficial relationship. I am lucky to play for this team.

David Heinemeier Hansson

ACCJ Journal — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:01:58 +0000

Co-authors David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried (inset image) recently took the wraps off their latest business intelligence book called “Rework,” a collection of ideas that revolve around the notion of rethinking how we optimize our strategic approach to business. Hansson is the creator of the widely used Ruby on Rails web development framework and Fried is the co-founder of 37signals (www.37signals.com), a U.S.-based web application firm. Here Hansson offers a few thoughts based on his years of executing successful digital initiatives.

Q&A

01 | JOURNAL: How visible/transparent are you to your professional peers?

Hansson: We try to share as much as we can, as often as we can. Think of it like great chefs. They’re all famous because they shared their recipes on TV and cook books. They don’t worry about someone stealing their ideas and opening up a restaurant right next to them and putting them out of business. It just doesn’t work like that. Neither does it in business, most of the time.

02 | JOURNAL: What was your most recent, big mistake?

Co-author Jason Fried
Illustration by Adam Fitzcharles

Hansson: We largely avoid big mistakes by avoiding big decisions. We instead try to make lots of small decisions that we can easily change. That way you rarely even run into things you’d even call outright mistakes. Instead you just correct the course slightly and adapt. The big trouble comes when you spend weeks fretting over bet-the-company stuff. So we don’t.

03 | JOURNAL: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?

Hansson: It has to be a mix of both. There are plenty of “logical” things we could probably do to increase our revenues. We could go with big, nasty banner ads. Or try to trick people into upsells. But ultimately, we’re in business, in large part, to feel good about being in business. To be reasonable and fair.

04 | JOURNAL: When you are away from your office, do you ever worry what is happening in your absence?

Hansson: I don’t know if there’s any one thing, or if non-U.S. really is that different from U.S. I think people are more alike than they’re different across the world when it comes to the fundamentals of productivity that our products address. We all have projects, we all have deadlines, we’re all running somewhat late.

05 | JOURNAL: What are your top three strengths?

Hansson: 1)Our discipline of saying no. 2) Our openness to challenging and questioning everything from company policies to product foundations. 3) Our focus on the long-term over tomorrow’s deadline.

06 | JOURNAL: Do you take personal responsibility for anything and everything that happens to you?

Hansson: What matters when things go wrong is more about how we can prevent it in the future than about assigning blame. We all know when we screw up, but harping endlessly about it rarely serves any grand purpose. People just get defensive.

07 | JOURNAL: If you were stripped of your job title and traits of office, would you still be able to get the best from your people?

Hansson: Absolutely. But it’s certainly easier to turn your ideas into action when you get to call the shots.

Noelle Coak

ACCJ Journal — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:00:57 +0000

As the world moves into a new phase of virtual offices typified by the 21st century style of doing business globally, anywhere and everywhere, Regus has emerged as one of the primary providers of solutions for executives and foreign business concerns looking for a temporary, yet prestigious and well equipped, office space in which to conduct business. For the last decade Noelle Coak has worked as a key component of the Regus business development and corporate sales initiative, raising the company’s profile in Japan and innovating to match the twists and turns of an often unpredictable marketplace.

Q&A

Illustration by Adam Fitzcharles

01 | JOURNAL: How visible are you to the people in your organization?

NOELLE COAK: Physically and mentally, every day. I manage the sales team at the head office in Akasaka, so my office is just around the corner. I have an open door policy so I always have contact with everyone. I am also out in the field to all of our centers to see our operations teams and clients.

02 | JOURNAL: What was your most recent, big mistake?

NOELLE COAK: Hiring the wrong person. When you have an interview with someone, you typically are with them for only an hour and perhaps a second interview for another hour. It is sometimes like playing Russian roulette, you never know their true character and capability until they are actually in the job performing every day. And with that, it will still take time to see true performance.

03 | JOURNAL: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?

NOELLE COAK: Logic is “thinking” and emotion is “feeling.” I would like to think I base decisions on both logic and emotion. Logic first, but then sometimes emotion just bombards itself through and pushes logic right out the window.

04 | JOURNAL: When you are away from your office, do you ever worry what is happening in your absence?

NOELLE COAK: Unfortunately, when I am out of the office, my out-of-office reply is never on! Of course I always wonder what is happening when I am away, but I am always still in communication with everyone because in our industry, office space moves so quickly with demand, we cannot afford not to be aware of all movements on a daily basis. As long as the world has Blackberry’s and wireless access, we can all stay connected, even on a beach in Bali.

05 | JOURNAL: What are your top three strengths?

NOELLE COAK: Coming from a sales background, I would have to say tenacity on never giving up, loyalty for both personal and professional connections, and passion—in order to succeed in your job, you must love what you do!

06 | JOURNAL: Do you take personal responsibility for anything and everything that happens to you?

NOELLE COAK: If not me, then who? I think everyone should take responsibility for themselves. I believe in the old saying, “you control your own destiny.”

07 | JOURNAL: If you were stripped of your job title and traits of office, would you still be able to get the best from your people?

NOELLE COAK: I would like to think that I could still get the best from my team as our relationship is based upon trust and respect, not title.

Joi Ito

ACCJ Journal — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:01:24 +0000

Illustration by Adam Fitzcharles

Joi Ito is at the matrix of a number of Internet initiatives, online social networks and major tech ventures, a position that makes him unique as one of the few truly cross-cultural, Japanese tech innovators able to effectively translate and synthesize the disparate shifts that drive the tech communities inside and outside of Japan.

The Kyoto-born, Japanese technopreneur and venture capitalist counts amongst his investments Flickr, which was later acquired by Yahoo, and blogging platform Six Apart, and he sits on the board of companies such as blog tracker Technorati, Digital Garage and the Mozilla Foundation (the company behind the Firefox Web browser). He also serves as the Board Emeritus for the Open Source Initiative, and is chief executive of the non-profit group Creative Commons which helps the creative community indicate how they’d like their work to be used online.

Q&A

01 | JOURNAL: How visible are you to the people in your organization?

JOI ITO: I think I’m relatively visible. Visibility is really my primary job in most of the organizations I work for. However, I think I’m often more visible through public channels such as the press and large meetings and not as visible at the operating level to the majority of my staff.

02 | JOURNAL: What was your most recent, big mistake?

JOI ITO: It’s more general, but I think I’ve accepted too many roles in too many organizations and I don’t have enough time to execute properly on all of my commitments. I am trying very hard to remove myself from positions where I am not adding enough value to make the commitment worthwhile for myself or the organization.

03 | JOURNAL: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?

JOI ITO: I try not to involve emotion in my decision-making and I believe very little of my decisions are based on emotion. However, logic is also not enough. I always allow a healthy dose of intuition in my decision-making. I believe intuition is very different from emotions. When I am emotional, I will always try to get input from others and try to defer the decision until I am not emotional. However, if something “feels right,” I will often take more risk than logic may dictate.

04 | JOURNAL: When you are away from your office, do you ever worry what is happening in your absence?

JOI ITO: I am often concerned about the general atmosphere and inter-personal issues in the offices, but with all of the tools on the Internet and lots of phone calls, I am not concerned about keeping up with operational issues.

05 | JOURNAL: What are your top three strengths?

JOI ITO: The ability to communicate and understand issues, multi-disciplinary broad understanding and a broad global network.

06 | JOURNAL: Do you take personal responsibility for anything and everything that happens to you?

JOI ITO: Everything that happens to me is my own responsibility and my own fault. Yes.

07 | JOURNAL: If you were stripped of your job title and traits of office, would you still be able to get the best from your people?

JOI ITO: I think so. I don’t think my title or my office have very much to do with my ability to function in my organizations, although it would probably affect my effectiveness in negotiating with external entities.

David Taylor

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:01:41 +0000

Illustration by Adam Fitzcharles

Hailed as one of the most dynamic voices in the field of business coaching, David Taylor’s best-selling book, “The Naked Leader” paved the way for a new style of transparent executive leadership that continues to resonate throughout the global corporate community. Having consulted for the likes of Procter & Gamble, BP and Coca-Cola, Taylor possesses business insight respected around the world, and which was the inspiration for this ongoing series of questions we plan to pose to some of the most dynamic leaders in business. He currently holds the position of Honorary Professor of Leadership at Warwick University Business School in England, and a business ambassador for The Prince’s Trust.

Q&A

01 | JOURNAL: How visible are you to the people in your organization?

DAVID TAYLOR: Hopefully, very. We are a virtual team with a small number at our head office, at the back of our garden in Woking, Surrey, England. That’s not too far to be visible! We have coaches and support teams (web, etc.) around the country and we always make sure we meet up at least once a month.

02 | JOURNAL: What was your most recent, big mistake?

DAVID TAYLOR: I was presenting in Manchester to The Gap Group, and I did not do my homework. I assumed it was The Gap clothing group; it was only two days before I realized it was actually The North of England’s largest hirer of forklift trucks! I learned a lot, very fast, about forklift trucks, and vowed never to shortcut my preparation process again.

03 | JOURNAL: What percentage of decisions do you base more on logic than emotion?

DAVID TAYLOR: None. All of my decisions are made more on the basis of emotion first, and then I stack up the logic to support that first decision. In this 100 percent decision by emotion, I am exactly the same as everyone else in the world – everyone makes every decision on the basis of one or two emotional factors – will it move them away from pain (the biggest driver) or closer to pleasure.

04 | JOURNAL: When you are away from your office, do you ever worry what is happening in your absence?

DAVID TAYLOR: No. My wife and business partner runs the company and in my absence. She runs it far better than when I am interfering! I trust her to make whatever decisions need to be made, when they need to be made.

05 | JOURNAL: What are your top three strengths?

DAVID TAYLOR: 1. Passion for what I do. 2. Speaking. 3. A very fast sense of humor

06 | JOURNAL: Do you take personal responsibility for anything and everything that happens to you?

DAVID TAYLOR: Yes, at all times, and following on from question 5, I have made many, many mistakes – not the least of which, embarrassing my daughter at her school recently when I threw sweets into the audience.

07 | JOURNAL: If you were stripped of your job title and traits of office, would you still be able to get the best from your people?

DAVID TAYLOR: I hope and believe so – to me that is the acid test of leadership. So, if I couldn’t, I would have no credibility whatsoever.