Graduating from 'I can't think of any ideas.' How to cultivate 'Creativity x Realization' for those who don't want to be buried in the AI era: Explaining 'Creative Management' in a way even elementary school students can understand

Creative Management

Author: Yuichiro Shibata

Introduction

You can fully understand this note article just by reading the free 'Explanation for Elementary School Students' section.

In the paid area, I have prepared 'Audio Commentary (Japanese and English versions)' and an 'Explanation for Adults' to help you understand the essence of the book more deeply.

Furthermore, this article does not use any quotes from the original book in the free, paid, or audio commentary sections. Everything is composed entirely of my own words.

There are many jobs in the world.

The smartphones around you, your favorite games, and delicious snacks all come from 'jobs (businesses) that someone created anew.'

But how are new jobs and ideas created?

This book is one where Mr. Yuichiro Shibata, who has experienced many new work sites such as Toyota Motor Corporation and large government projects, teaches 'how to turn new ideas into reality and make the world exciting.'

If you read this article, you will surely understand how to turn the 'fantasies' and 'flashes of inspiration' in your head into real work!

An unpredictable era and how to create new work.

The current world is said to be an 'unpredictable era.'

In English, it is called 'VUCA.'

This is an acronym for the following four words.

Volatility: The world changing rapidly

Uncertainty: Being unable to predict what will happen

Complexity: Various problems being intertwined

Ambiguity: Not being clear about what is correct

In the Japan of the past, 'productivity'—doing what you were told precisely, quickly, and in large quantities—was considered the most important thing.

There was a time when if you made a lot of good products, they would sell more and more.

However, Japan today is already overflowing with many things.

Everyone already has a TV, a refrigerator, and a car, right?

When that happens, just 'making a lot of things' won't get anyone to buy them anymore.

Furthermore, from now on, 'jobs that involve doing exactly what you are told' will all be done by artificial intelligence (AI) and robots instead.

What will be required of humans from now on is not memorizing predetermined answers (rote learning).

It is the power to create 'new value (services or products)' that has never existed before, in other words, 'creativity,' and the 'passion' to give it shape.

The 'Creative Management' taught in this book is a 'way of using your brain' to awaken the creative power that everyone naturally possesses and to survive and thrive in an unpredictable, jungle-like era with excitement.

What is Creative Management? Three ways to use your brain.

Professor Shibata says that in order to create a new business, it is important to skillfully switch and control 'three brains (ways of thinking).'

This switching is called 'Creative Management.'

Those three brains are as follows.

Art Thinking (the feeling of wanting to do it yourself): Thinking with a 'self-axis.'

This is the brain that values passion and intuition—the 'I want to make this!' or 'I want to make the future like this!' that wells up from within your heart—rather than doing something because someone told you to.

Design Thinking (a heart that empathizes with others): Thinking with an 'other-axis.'

This is the brain that thoroughly puts itself in the position of the person (user) who will use the service or product, finding and solving the things they are troubled by or their 'true wishes' that they haven't put into words.

Logical Thinking (a brain that thinks logically based on facts): Thinking with an 'objective perspective.'

This is the brain that creates a logical plan on how to turn an idea into a real business based on facts such as numbers and data.

It is also necessary when explaining things clearly to others.

To make the differences between these three brains easy to understand, the book introduces a somewhat interesting story about 'proposing marriage to a girl you like.'

Suppose a rival boy proposes by giving a girl 10 roses.

How would people with these three types of thinking behave in that situation?

Logical-kun thinks, 'If my rival is giving 10, I'll give 100 roses!' or tries to give an even more expensive gift.

Logical-kun is the type who tries to win with numbers and quantity.

Design-kun thinks about the girl first.

'Does she really like roses? Maybe she likes sunflowers better. Where is the place she would be happiest?'

He thinks of the best plan by empathizing with the other person's feelings.

Art-kun doesn't care what his rival did.

'I want to convey my overflowing feelings for her through a painting I drew myself or a song I wrote!' He appeals to her in a way only he can.

Mr. Shibata teaches us that it's not about 'which one is best,' but that it is important to master these three minds and use them according to the situation, such as 'Now let's expand ideas with Art Thinking,' 'Next, let's listen to the other person's opinion with Design Thinking,' and 'Finally, let's set a budget and plan with Logical Thinking.'

Why are new ideas hard to come by at work? Three big walls.

Why is it that even though many adults and companies think, 'We want to create a new business!', it rarely goes well?

It is because there are 'three big walls' within companies and society.

The First Wall: The Individual Wall (problems of each person)

In Japanese schools and companies until now, 'memorizing pre-prepared correct answers' and 'working exactly as told' have been considered excellent.

Because of that, even if you are suddenly told to 'come up with free ideas!', your mind has become rigid, and you don't know what to do.

Also, if it's work forced upon you by the company (work you are made to do), you won't feel motivated.

The Second Wall: The Organization (Team) Wall (problems of the surrounding environment)

If you come up with an interesting idea, but the people around you make fun of you or blame you, saying things like 'That's impossible' or 'What will you do if you fail?', you'd be too scared to say it, right?

To do new things, you need a safe environment where you can think 'it's okay to fail'—this is called 'psychological safety' in technical terms—and without this, ideas cannot grow.

The Third Wall: The Manager (Leader) Wall (The problem of those above)

If company presidents or bosses cling to old ways of doing things, or if they immediately hit the brakes by demanding only numbers and asking 'Will this really make money?', new challenges will be crushed.

It is essential for leaders to have an attitude of supporting others by saying, 'Let's take on challenges without fear of failure!'

To break down these three walls, it is necessary not only to improve individual abilities but also to 'renovate the organization' by giving the atmosphere and rules of the entire company a fresh start.

The secret to generating amazing ideas: Multiplication and the mysteries of the brain.

When you hear the phrase 'wonderful idea,' do you think it's something a genius suddenly comes up with out of thin air? Actually, that is a mistake.

The economist Schumpeter said, 'Innovation (new value) is born from new combinations.'

A new combination is 'taking two things that already exist in the world, which seem completely unrelated, and combining them in a new way.'

For example, let's multiply 'trains' and 'telephones'.

If people from the past heard this, they might have laughed and said, 'You're going to talk on the phone while on a train?' or 'What do you mean by riding a phone train?'

However, what was born from that multiplication is the 'mobile IC card' for smartphones that everyone has now, and the system that allows you to ride trains using your mobile phone.

In this way, the further apart two things are, the more 'interesting and unique' the idea becomes when they are combined.

To generate ideas, there are the following four steps (an equation).

Accumulation: Collecting many seeds of ideas (input) in the drawers of your mind.

Combination: Freely multiplying the seeds inside your drawers.

Deliberation: Thinking objectively about whether the multiplied ideas are truly usable.

4B (Letting go of thought): After thinking about it for a long time, stop thinking for a while and relax.

Actually, brain science research has also identified the moment when ideas flash into your mind.

When you are relaxed, a part of the brain called the 'Default Mode Network (DMN)' becomes actively engaged.

This DMN is like a 'comedian playing the straight man' that freely connects the scattered memories and experiences in your head.

On the other hand, when you are concentrating on making a plan, the part of your brain called the 'Executive Control Network (ECN),' which acts as the 'straight man' (tsukkomi), is at work.

In your brain, this 'funny man' (DMN) comes up with interesting ideas, and the 'straight man' (ECN) immediately organizes them by saying, 'That's great!' or 'You can make it happen like this!', which is how wonderful ideas are born.

The reason why flashes of inspiration are more likely to occur in the '4Bs'—the 'Bathroom,' 'Bus' (while traveling), and 'Bed'—is because the brain is relaxed and the DMN is actively working.

Five steps to turn a new business into reality.

I will introduce the 'five steps (model)' that Professor Shibata has practiced in his work to turn a new business into reality from scratch.

By following this model in order, anyone can turn their ideas into a job.

1. Information Accumulation (Input)

First, be interested in various things in your daily life and collect a lot of information.

Always keep your antennas up, asking, 'Why is this popular?' or 'What can this technology be used for?'

2. Deluding Ideas (The Start of Art Thinking)

Next, use your 'intrinsic motivation'—that is, 'what you really want to do or solve'—as a theme, and freely fantasize about ideas.

Here, I will introduce a wonderful story about a shower head called 'Mirable' that appears in the book.

Chairman Aoyama of the company that made Mirable had a daughter who was crying every day because of a severe skin disease called atopy.

The starting point was a father's strong love (the desire to do something) to 'somehow make my daughter's body clean and comfortable.'

It was not because of an external reason like 'I want to make the company profitable,' but because of a strong feeling that welled up from inside his heart (intrinsic motivation) that he was able to conduct research for many years and develop a wonderful shower head that removes dirt with fine bubbles called ultra-fine bubbles, leading to a huge hit.

3. Inspiration: When the information you have stored in your head connects with your own fantasy of 'I want to do this!', one day, a wonderful idea will suddenly strike like lightning.

4. Needs Verification (Checking with Design Thinking): Verify whether your inspired idea is self-centered or if others really want it.

Here, I will introduce another wonderful story, the story of Doug Dietz from GE Healthcare in the United States.

Doug was making a large examination machine called an 'MRI' that checks the inside of the body at a hospital.

However, one day, he was shocked to see children undergoing examinations crying and trembling in fear because of the loud noises and the scary-looking machine.

Surprisingly, 90% of the children were being given sleeping pills before their exams.

Doug thoroughly empathized with the feelings of the children and their families, and thought about how to eliminate their fear.

Then, he had a flash of inspiration: the idea of 'turning the entire MRI room into an adventure world.'

He painted the machines colorfully like spaceships or pirate ships, drew pictures of the ocean on the walls, and spoke to the children, saying, 'We're going on a spaceship now! It will make a loud noise, but let's stay still and enjoy our space travel!'

As a result, the children were able to undergo the exams with smiles on their faces, without the need for sleeping pills.

You can clearly see the importance of empathizing with the other person's feelings and repeating tests to make improvements.

5. Business Plan (Planning with logical thinking)

Finally, to realize that idea, you logically compile a plan detailing 'how much it will cost,' 'what to do by when,' and 'how to deliver it to everyone.'

Since things often don't go according to plan, the trick is to proceed flexibly using a method called 'Agile,' where you quickly change your approach while actually doing it.

Anyone can do it! Three training exercises to collect the seeds of ideas.

Professor Shibata says that creativity is not a 'talent,' but a 'skill' that anyone can train if they practice.

Here are three training exercises you can do every day to increase your seeds of ideas.

Training 1: Trend Report

Look at TV news, online articles, or interesting shops you see in town, and take notes on your notebook or smartphone about things you think are 'interesting!'

This is a practice of thinking for yourself about 'why it is popular' or 'what is clever about it,' and discussing it with your family and friends.

Just by continuing this, the drawers in your mind will keep increasing.

Training 2: Finding your 'Assets' (strengths)

Before starting something new, try to neatly organize and write down what you currently have: 'things you are good at, tools you possess, and people who will cooperate with you.'

For example, when Fujifilm, which used to be a photographic film company, saw film sales drop due to the arrival of digital cameras, they re-examined their own technologies.

They thought, 'Could the collagen technology used to keep film in good condition, or the technology to prevent fading, be used for cosmetics to prevent human skin aging?'

That is how the highly popular cosmetic line 'Astalift' was born.

By leveraging the 'assets' they already possessed, they created a new, major success.

Training 3: Impersonation Sales

This is a practice exercise where you study someone else's ideas or a technology you aren't in charge of in detail, and then give a presentation (explanation) to others as if you were the person who actually created it.

It is a mental exercise that helps you deeply understand the other person's perspective and come up with new combinations.

Continuing these training exercises steadily in your daily life (making them a habit) is the shortest path to generating future inspiration.

To work happily and live a rich life.

Finally, I will talk about the most important thing.

Why do we study, and why do we work?

Is it to earn a lot of money? Is it to become famous?

Dr. Shibata says, 'People fundamentally work to make themselves happy, and to make the people around them happy.'

There are two types of work.

Rice-work (work to eat and survive): Work you do out of necessity to earn money.

Life-work (work you love that defines your life): Work driven by your own passion to 'do it!' or by a desire to make the world a better place (purpose).

In this coming era of creativity, those who work with excitement from their own intrinsic motivation, like in a life-work, will be able to generate wonderful ideas and feel happiness in both their work and private lives.

In fact, psychological research shows data that 'people who work while feeling happy are three times more creative than those who do not.'

The famous painter Pablo Picasso left behind the words, 'Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.'

When you were children, you must have been very creative, making free-form shapes with clay or singing funny songs you just thought of.

However, as we grow into adults, we are told to 'study' and 'follow the rules,' and many people end up putting the artist within them to sleep before they even realize it.

From now on, it is an era where you set your own questions, see the world through your own eyes, and give shape to what you truly want to do from your heart.

Please, in your daily lives, try asking "Why?" about things, take notes on what you find interesting, and try to give shape to the things you love together with the people around you.

Because the daydreams inside your heads are the first "treasures" that will create a wonderful future world!