Rethinking Regional Revitalization 18: Regional Producers are Deflection Designers

The World Cup soccer tournament ended with Spain's victory, didn't it?
By the way, in this soccer tournament, there were many scenes where the trajectory of a shot changed. In soccer terminology, this is called a "deflection," which refers to the ball showing an unexpected movement after hitting another player, the referee, or the goalpost.
There are two types of deflections: those that are intentional and those where the direction changes unintentionally.
An intentional deflection is a play where a player touches the ball slightly on purpose to change its course and throw off the opponent's reading; for the attacking side, a deflection is one of the most powerful scoring patterns.
The other type is an accidental deflection, a phenomenon where a shot or pass unintentionally hits a defensive player's body and rolls in an unexpected direction. The most common type seen in matches is this accidental one, a typical example being a scene where a ball that the goalkeeper had completely covered changes course at the last moment and is sucked into the goal. Remember the scene in the World Cup qualifying round where Japan scored a goal because the ball slightly touched a head? The goalkeeper was off the trajectory they had prepared for, and their reaction was too late.
Regional revitalization is somewhat similar to this.
It goes beyond the concept of a shot where you simply "need to hit it within the frame," and is instead built on the idea that "it might go in if it hits something."
In regional revitalization and activation, the government tends to think that "if you implement the right measures, you will get results." However, in reality, things do not always go according to plan. Rather, small points of contact from diverse connections—such as encounters with people, information dissemination, and the discovery of collaborators—can move a project in an unexpected direction and lead to major results.

■ You can design an environment where coincidences are likely to occur
When a deflection occurs, you are required to readjust your movement from the position you had set. Behind a play that looks like a coincidence, there is always the intention and preparation of the players; in other words, the "attitude of not stopping play" after a deflection is the key. It becomes clear that the movements and judgments of the players before and after that are important.
That is precisely why, in regional revitalization, it is important not only to "shoot accurately into the frame" but also to prepare many "mechanisms where a deflection can occur somewhere."
For example, an encounter with a single migrant creates a new business, and a connection born at a casual event develops into a partnership with a company. A single social media post calls for unexpected empathy, and supporters appear from outside the region. At first glance, such turning points look like coincidences.
But is that really the case?
Create a place where people gather and increase opportunities for people from different fields to interact. Connect regional resources not as points, but as lines and planes. Support people who take on challenges. Various mechanisms that connect the region with diverse entities, such as continuing to disseminate regional information to the outside, may become the trigger for creating new deflections.
Instead of waiting for coincidence, create a place where coincidence occurs. In other words, I believe that an environment where coincidence is likely to occur can be designed.
The role of a regional producer is not to promise success. It is to create many "places to hit" in the field of the region and to design an environment where unexpected chemical reactions are born.
Isn't that the kind of production and the idea of "deflection" that will be required for future regional revitalization?
There is no formula for success in regional revitalization.
No matter how detailed a plan you make, the trigger that significantly changes a region is often not a predetermined harmony, but rather born from unexpected encounters and a chain of coincidences.
Have you ever had an experience like this?
The atmosphere of the region changed because one migrant joined. Two people who met at a small event started a new business. A partnership began with someone from a company they met by chance. Looking back, events that can only be thought of as "coincidences" have moved the history of the region.
Those coincidences were not really coincidences, but the result of increasing the probability of coincidences occurring by implementing various mechanisms; in other words, it is an intentional direction.
Regional revitalization is not about executing a plan perfectly. It is about designing a mechanism that makes coincidence your ally.
Do not fear deflection, but create it intentionally. Isn't that the idea that is required for future regional development?