[Self-Improvement Poem] Combinations Start with a System

Think of one idea for 5 minutes every day

Masayoshi Son (1957–)

SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son is a regular on Forbes magazine's list of Japan's richest people.

He has held the number one spot consecutively since 2017. While his ranking may fluctuate depending on the group's market capitalization,he is a unique presence in Japan, where there are few long-standing IT billionaires.

When he was 19, he studied abroad at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in economics.

He spent all his time outside of eating and sleeping on his studies, but the timing was bad. His father in Japan fell ill and became weak, and there was a risk that the 200,000 yen in monthly study abroad funds sent by his family would be cut off.

Studying abroad was a stretch from the beginning, but now he had to earn money himself or he would be a burden to his family. However, Son, who was buried in his studies, had no time for a part-time job.

A normal person would have cut back on study time to work a part-time job.

But he seriously thought,"Is there a way to earn over 1 million yen a month by working only 5 minutes a day?"His friends were surprised and advised him, "Forget such a stupid idea and get a part-time job at a cafe," but Son did not give up. He came up with the idea that if he made an invention with practical application in mind, he could get a company to buy it.

And so,he imposed on himself the habit of using only 5 minutes every day to come up with one invention.This habit had two principles:

limiting thinking time to 5 minutes a day, and if no idea came after 5 minutes, giving up for that day.As he continued his 5-minute daily inventions, he began to see patterns in his invention methods. Son classified them into three types.First is



"Problem Solving Method."As the name suggests, it was a method of finding existing problems and thinking of solutions for them.Second is

"Lateral Thinking Method."

For example, it is a method of changing large things into small things, small things into large things, or square things into round things.Third is"Forced Combination Method."



Just as combining a radio and a cassette player creates a boombox, it was a method of combining existing things. The "Forced Combination Method" was used the most, and it is said that Son made 300 cards for this purpose, randomly choosing two and trying to combine them.When he continued this habit and gathered many ideas, he selected the one with the highest potential for success among his inventions.It was"an automatic translator with voice output."



It is a famous anecdote that he persuaded a university professor to develop this and sold it to Sharp.

What is interesting about his habit is that he set a quota of "one per day" for the creative act of invention."one per day" quotaThe time limit of

"5 minutes a day"also has the effect of increasing concentration.You can continue it for a lifetime, or use it in ways such as continuing until something good is born during a necessary period.It can be said that it is a highly versatile habit that anyone can imitate.