The story of how I felt a bit more relaxed after I stopped teaching my subordinates.
Good morning.
I recently found a new supermarket!
They have half-price sales early in the day, and they even sell fresh sashimi!
I'm Matsuda, and I feel like my weekends at home have leveled up just a little bit.
Thank you for always reading Kaito Matsuda's articles.
Thank you.
It's Friday. Good work this week as well.
Today, I'd like to talk a little about not taking work too seriously. ...Or rather, this is something that just happened recently.
Documents where it's hard to tell what they want to say
I have a somewhat big meeting next week.
Up until now, I have been the one creating all the structures for meeting goals and documents for deciding important matters.
But this time, I asked two of my subordinates to handle all the documents. And then, you know. The document from the person who joined through this year's personnel transfer was...
I don't really understand what they want to say. I also don't know what they want to do.
...Doesn't this kind of thing happen? The document that a subordinate worked hard to create, but you just go, 'Hmm...'.
If it were the old me, I probably would have said this:
“These figures aren't necessary, right?
There's also a lot of rambling text where I can't tell what you're trying to say
……start over from the beginning.”
……Does that sound familiar?
I have so many memories of that, it makes my ears burn (laughs).
But you know,
this time I tried doing something a little different.
I decided not to teach them.
Instead, I asked them a ton of questions.
“Is the main point you want to convey in this document XX? Or is it something else?”
“What do these figures indicate, and what do they relate to?” “When the meeting members look at this document, will your intentions come across clearly?”
I’m not grilling them, by the way (laughs).
I’m just asking purely and in a friendly way.
However, I make sure not to act superior or talk down to them.
This is the Matsuda style.
And then,
as I kept asking questions,
the look on their face gradually started to change.
There’s a moment where they get an “Ah…” look on their face.
They realize it themselves.
Eventually, that person said to me, "Can I redo the document?"
"Sure."
Honestly, that's all there is to it.
"I don't have the answer"
is what it means.
People realize things without you having to be serious about it
I could have pointed it out seriously and
made them fix it.
That would have been faster and more certain.
But you know,
if I do that, I'll end up fixing it next time and the time after that, forever.
The subordinate won't grow, and
above all, I won't feel any relief myself (laughs).
People realize things on their own without you having to be serious.
All you have to do is ask questions in a friendly way.
After that, you just wait.
...It's just like vegetables in a field. If you water them too much, they wither.
Thank you for your hard work this week as well.
Please leave your serious face at the door and spend the weekend relaxing.
It will be okay.
Thank you for reading until the end.
I am not a special person.
I have made nothing but mistakes.
But thanks to not taking those failures too seriously,
I am where I am today.
Of course, I don't make the same mistakes (...as much as possible).
That is why there is one thing
I am certain of.
People can become whoever they want to be, at any age.
Life is a series of choices.
If you think it's good, it will be a good life.
Don't be serious, be earnest.
From now on,
I will continue to write articles that can gently push you forward from your side.
Kaito Matsuda
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