"Can you be of use to the front lines?" [Final Episode] "It was the front lines that cast the die"

I was at the office that day.
I was there to have a meeting with Mr. Sasaki, my partner and an excellent full-stack engineer in his mid-30s.

Despite being extremely busy every day, Mr. Sasaki had a strong passion for "communicating more deeply with clients and getting involved from the upstream processes."
Because of this, he eagerly sought guidance and advice on my project management and business analysis methods.

However, I ended up keeping him waiting for about an hour due to an unexpected visitor.

"No, Mr. Sasaki, I apologize for keeping you waiting."
After seeing the client off from the reception room, I returned and spoke to him.

"No, it's fine. ...You were talking quite intensely. Who was that?"

"That was the director in charge of the food manufacturing company where the business improvement phase reached a milestone last week. At the previous report meeting, I 'passed the ball' and just came home, but..."

"So, did that ball come back to you?"

Mr. Sasaki leaned in, looking interested.

I tell him about my conversation with the director.

The director began to speak, sounding excited.

It was just two days after that tense report meeting that the front-line leader of the sales department came to the director's desk. It was just past regular working hours, he said.

When he started with a serious expression, "Do you have a moment?", the director said a "bad feeling" crossed his mind.

"Another resignation consultation..." he thought. Losing him now, a man who was well-respected and capable, would be a huge blow to the company.

To the director who braced himself, asking, "What's wrong, did something happen?", the front-line leader reportedly said this with clear eyes.

"I heard from the department manager about the meeting with Mr. Ishi.... Let me be the leader for the business improvement."

The director couldn't believe his ears. The front-line leader continued.

"Mr. Ishi is right. To establish new business formats and rules, we on the front lines absolutely have to move ourselves. Honestly, when this project started, I thought, 'What a pain.' But as I kept doing it, I realized. This is, in the end, a system for our own sake. If this takes root, the man-hours for training new employees will decrease. If everyone's way of working becomes the same, management man-hours will also decrease. If omissions decrease and troubles disappear... overtime will also decrease. If that happens, it should become a company where people don't quit."

The director spoke passionately to me, using hand gestures.

"Man, Mr. Ishi, I was truly surprised! Even though I knew I had to ask the front lines for a leader because you were strict with me, I was paralyzed by the thought that 'everyone is busy, and if they push back and quit, it'll be for nothing.' At that moment, he volunteered himself."

When he told him, "That helps, I'm counting on you," the front-line leader reportedly nodded strongly and left.

However, what really surprised the director was the following Monday.

"It was the front lines that cast the die"

A typical Monday, the usual general morning assembly. As the sluggish atmosphere of the start of the week drifted about, the division manager finished his greeting, and the moderator asked, "Does anyone else have any announcements?" That was when it happened.



"Yes, I have something to tell everyone!"
With a resonant, clear voice, the front-line leader stepped forward. Behind him, two young employees followed closely.

"Starting today, the 30 members of the sales department will introduce a new form format and a unified way of working as part of business improvement! This will lead to a significant reduction in work man-hours and create a company where people don't quit. If expenses are reduced, the company's performance should also rise. However, that is only if we can truly 'establish' what we have decided this time. Therefore, I will take responsibility and lead this. These two people here are also colleagues who, when I told them the purpose, raised their hands and said, 'Please let us join you!'"

"If there are any inconveniences or things that don't go well, please tell me everything. I truly ask for everyone's cooperation!"

The director said deeply.

"I have never seen a morning assembly like that before. His voice echoed all the way to the hallway, and all the employees had no choice but to listen. It is all thanks to you, Mr. Ishi. I am truly glad that you said those strict things to us executives at that time, in that place."

The front-line leader has already requested, "I would like to have Mr. Ishi's advice on future operations as well."

"Yes, with pleasure. Let's find a time sometime next week to have a meeting with the front-line leader and the two sub-leaders." When I answered that, the director bowed his head repeatedly and left with a bright face.

What is work for, and for whom?

When I finished talking, Mr. Sasaki, who had been listening intently, suddenly asked me.

"I'm sorry to say this, but although it went well this time, this story ultimately means that the outcome depended on the other party, right?"

"Hahaha, that's right."

"If that's the case, doesn't it make you worried, like it's a gamble?"

"No, not at all. It would be a lie to say that. I am always worrying about the past, thinking 'I should have done this,' or about the future, wondering 'Will it really be okay?'"

"I thought so."

"But you know, I read it in an internet article or something, but apparently neither the past nor the future exists in reality. Now that you mention it, it's true; there is only the reality of 'now,' the past is just a memory, and the future could be called just a delusion..."

Mr. Sasaki listens to my words in silence.

"Forgive me for suddenly talking about something so philosophical... It's just that I thought that front-line leader, who volunteered and declared it proudly at the morning assembly without being asked by anyone, was truly living in the reality of 'now.' Perhaps he overcame the entanglements of the past and the anxieties of the future, put himself aside for a moment... and was looking at his role within the company as a whole."

"Can you be of use to the front lines?"

That question, which is always being thrown at me, echoes faintly in my chest once again.

Mr. Sasaki, who had been lost in thought for a while, opened his mouth quietly.

"Mr. Ishi, what are you working for?"

"First of all, it's to be of use to people."

I took a breath and continued, looking into Mr. Sasaki's eyes.

"Let me say this so there is no misunderstanding. You are still young, Mr. Sasaki. When we participate in projects from the outside like we do, we aren't paid for being useless. Therefore, at the point we are receiving money, it can be said that we are useful to a certain extent. However, that is naive. It is very insufficient."

"Insufficient... is it?"

"As long as it is consulting from the outside, what we should aim for is to bring about a 'difference' to the other party that is startling, that is eye-opening. When that is achieved, the framework of the amount we are receiving fades away in a good sense, and a virtuous cycle is born where we bring about better results together with the client. Well, I'm saying this arrogantly, but I myself am still, from now on... halfway there."

Mr. Sasaki nodded deeply and turned his straight eyes toward me.

"I still lack experience, but I understand well what you are saying. Mr. Ishi, you definitely brought that 'eye-opening difference' to the company of the director who came earlier."

"I wonder. But you know..."

I stopped my hand from organizing the documents for a moment and smiled.

"The director told me so happily as he was leaving... That on the night of that dramatic morning assembly, he and that front-line leader drank together for the first time, just the two of them, and talked thoroughly about the company..."

The curtains on the window are breathing quietly.

The days have gotten longer. It's the rainy season, but isn't it nice weather? Mr. Sasaki, let's continue while drinking some beer or something...


The front lines are changing. The company is changing. I can hear the certain footsteps of that.

(End)