\n\u30fbEmpathy is needed to advance dialogue. Empathy comes from the five senses. <\/a>
\n\u30fbEmpathy-based \u201cfuture offices\u201d and \u201cdecision-making methods\u201d<\/a>
\n\u30fbIf there is no reason, people will not gather. \u201cEntertainment\u201d is needed in the post-COVID-19 reality<\/a>
\n\u30fbKey points<\/a><\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/d1ro80vdse4hgc.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/30112933\/1-1024x683.jpg\")
\nAkie Iriyama
\nProfessor at the Graduate School of Business Management, Waseda University
\nHe graduated from the Faculty of Economics, Keio University, and completed a master\u2019s degree at the Graduate School of Economics, Keio University. Iriyama obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Management in the United States in 2008 after working primarily in consultations with motor vehicle manufacturers and national and international government agencies at Mitsubishi General Research Institute. He became an assistant professor at New York State University\u2019s Buffalo School of Business in the same year. He has been holding his current position since 2013. He has published papers in major international management journals, including Strategic Management Journal. A major book he has authored is Global Standards Management Theory (Diamond).<\/small><\/p>\nDialogue makes implicit knowledge formal<\/h2>\n
\u2015\u2015First, what is the management theory addressed in your book?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cI think that the management theory is a drawing of the intrinsic behavioral principles of humans. It is an abstraction of the mechanisms that humans have in common, such as the desire for approval to \u2018want to be connected with someone,\u2019 the physical desire to \u2018earn money,\u2019 and the survival instinct to \u2018eat something delicious.\u2019\u201d
\nThe mechanistic basis is that \u201chumans should act in this way under certain circumstances.\u201d If the management theory is stuck, it explains how people think and act. This is because it is people who do business and management. The events that occur in the society at that time change, but since theory is quite universal, it can be used as a platform for thinking.<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Can management theories help even during COVID-19, where the business environment has changed drastically?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cOf course, they can. The point is that the theory is not the correct answer. Since human thought is complicated, the correct answer cannot be found easily. However, people have to think for themselves and the organization. In that sense, the theory is an \u201caxis or benchmark\u201d because it scientifically indicates that \u201calthough it is not absolutely correct, people and organizations are inherently prone to this.\u201d Consider theory as an axial benchmark for thinking. Various things are happening in the world, including the COVID-19 pandemic, are they not? To understand the events that occur in the world and to think about solutions, we need an axis of thinking. To do this, I think you will have written down what you would like to know after reading my book Global Standards Management Theory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Global Standards Management Theory is a fairly thick book; which chapters should you read?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cI want you to read from where you like. This book covers almost perfectly the major management theories that are prevalent in the world. I do not have to read all of it, but I would like to turn the table of contents in parallel to read the paragraphs that are now necessary and interesting.
\nThere was one point that I wanted you to be aware of:, \u2018after reading this book, talk to someone about what you thought and felt.\u2019 You can read chapters 1 to 2. After reading, enter into dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015It won\u2019t help unless we all read it?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cReading alone is helpful because it is a universal rule of people and organizations. However, by telling someone about the theory, it should be sublimated to something more meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Why?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cThis is because you can call theories into a language for your inside. The person\u2019s heads are filled with implicit knowledge (subjective, nonverbalized knowledge). However, if we engage in dialogue, we have to spin it in our own words; we can transform it into formal knowledge (knowledge that makes tacit knowledge linguistic and enables us to share it with others) through that process. People often realize that they were thinking about something like this only after talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015I see. As you break it down so that others can understand, it becomes verbalized like \u201cThis means that.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cThat is right. If a theory becomes a common language, you can use it to talk to everyone and make a leap in your thoughts. Whenever an innovation occurs, new words are born. The moment the word snaps in, it becomes “This!” We have to express it in new words because it\u2019s something that\u2019s not there yet. Therefore, the dialogue after knowing the theory is the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015What issues can be solved through this verbalization process?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cSeveral issues can be solved, but as an example, people with different backgrounds can discuss each other.
\nFor example, a variety of companies and departments may not be able to engage in conversations. That is just a concrete discussion on the ground. In other words, I have no common language. However, if you lower the resolution and abstract it, the essence is quite the same. They will notice that \u2018Everyone is worried about the same thing.\u2019
\nWhile writing, I was hoping that Global Standards Management Theory can become a common language between different industries and departments.\u201d<\/p>\nEmpathy is needed to advance dialogue. Empathy comes from the five senses<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/d1ro80vdse4hgc.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/30112948\/2-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Are there any important factors in advancing the dialogue? You mentioned earlier that \u201ca common language is necessary.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cTo proceed with the dialogue, empathy is necessary. As Ikujiro Nonaka of Hitotsubashi University says in his SECI model, a worldwide theory, the circulation of knowledge is vital, and when people who have rich tacit knowledge interact with each other and empathize with each other, saying, \u2018Yes, yes, yes,\u2019 knowledge becomes linguistic, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Certainly. If you don\u2019t empathize, the conversation will stop, right?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cYes. What is interesting is that empathy and verbalization circulate. The sympathy gives rise to formal knowledge, and the formalization gives rise to sympathy. It is not a story of which comes first, like the chicken or the egg parable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Recently, communications using Zoom and other means have become a matter of course. Is it possible to create sympathy even in digital form, without meeting directly?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cIt is possible to some extent, but I do not think digital alone is perfect.
\nThis is because humans grasp their surroundings through their five senses, and empathy comes from their five senses. However, modern digital technologies can only cover vision and hearing. The remaining senses of taste, smell, and touch cannot be stimulated.
\nFor example, if I were eating something very delicious, I would like to convey this flavor and fragrance to people in the distance, but I cannot convey it digitally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Digital alone has limitations. Zoom drinking also hears a voice stating that the other party\u2019s feeling is unknown.<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cI think that the necessary experience through five senses, including taste, smell, and touch, will be the value of a realistic field. Conversely, everything that can be felt by vision and hearing alone will be replaced by digital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Specifically, what kind of experiences will lead to empathy?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cTo begin with, it is likely that a diet or lunch uses the senses of taste, smell, and touch. Eat delicious food together. I think sports and camping are also good. BBQ and burning fires are also recommended. If you talk to someone using the senses of taste, smell, and touch, empathy and trust are likely to arise. Once empathy is born, I think the story will play even if it is digital only for a while. However, they become unable to empathize at any time. I think that real and digital transfers will be required in the future.\u201d<\/p>\nEmpathy-based \u201cfuture offices\u201d and \u201cdecision-making methods\u201d<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/d1ro80vdse4hgc.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/30113000\/3-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015How will the office, a representative of the real-working area, change in the future?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cThe physical office should be a \u2018venue for dialogue and empathy\u2019 through five senses as remote work will be popular. Thus, the office may allow the person to enter and exit once in a month or a week.
\nExtremely speaking, everyone should camp or BBQ on the day they come to work (laugh). They should eat delicious food, hug, and shake hands. I think it is necessary to establish a venue for discussing \u2018how to run the company in the future\u2019 while stimulating the five senses.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Everyday tasks are digital, while decision-making and communication are analog; therefore, we get separate worlds.<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cYes. However, on a case-by-case basis, some tasks and people should be completed by vision and hearing alone. For example, in the Silicon Valley, the start-up, which is just one or two times in reality, is getting huge funding. They are able to move their business online only and empathize with VC. However, it is now that these projects are really successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Surprisingly. VC first met face-to-face to decide the investment destinations.<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cSome VCs have high digital density. For example, Miyata, the head of Scrum Ventures in Silicon Valley, told us that he had been using Zoom before the COVID-19 pandemic. I hear that the first meeting with entrepreneurs will be definitely online.
\nFirst, it seems that it is easier to turn down the project online. If you think \u201cthere is no case for this investment,\u201d you will be able to release NG relatively easily online. Movement time can also be reduced, and distant entrepreneurs can meet. Once you have broken the ice and feel good, you will have multiple online meetings, and you will have the opportunity to have a face-to-face meeting for the first time before deciding on investment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Digital tools can also be used to make important decisions.<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cAround that area is a frontier, and everyone is searching for what is right. To what extent can the digital assure empathy? How much time, frequency, and density are needed to foster empathy is still a case-by-case study.
\nHowever, I think the value of meeting various people will remain in the future. This is because there is information that cannot be retrieved digitally, and there is implicit knowledge that does not appear to be trusted. Above all, I cannot feel that the five senses are not realistic, though it is repeated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Do you have any other tips to foster empathy?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cFor example, short movies can be used more frequently. \u2018This is the world we want to create in three to forty years,\u2019 says the message, which is summarized in about five minutes. One of the richest media representations of vision and hearing is movies. It is very difficult to make a long film, but the cost of short movies is also decreasing; therefore, it should be out of alignment. For example, soft banks have recently made a variety of movies. I think it would be good if we spread out the room and foster empathy in a realistic place when we meet key persons.\u201d<\/p>\nIf there is no reason, people will not gather. \u201cEntertainment\u201d is needed in the post-COVID-19 reality<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/d1ro80vdse4hgc.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/30113014\/4-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015Vaccines have been developed, and the convergence has only begun to be apparent. How will the world change in the future?<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cAI, RPA, and DX will undoubtedly be implemented as essential technologies in the future. This way, existing know-how can be brushed up, allowing people and organizations to access a wide range of knowledge.
\nHowever, humans can only do the work of combining knowledge to create new things while failing. I think that humans will focus on tasks that they can only do in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2015\u2015By that time, you say dialogue and empathy will become important.<\/b><\/p>\n
Iriyama<\/b>: \u201cYes, meeting people in reality should become more important. Even so, remote work and e-commerce would be prevalent, leading to the completion of work and life at home. I think people would need a reason to move. \u30fbThe process of dialogue allows us to make implicit knowledge. Looking back on 2020…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":5142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"5135","footnotes":""},"categories":[367],"class_list":["post-6195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","en-US"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6197,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6195\/revisions\/6197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFrom now on, people will not gather just because it is convenient. They will gather because they have something interesting, something they can empathize with, and something fun. That is why sports, live performances, camping, and other forms of entertainment are important. We need a place to foster empathy; so, we should build campgrounds in one of Japan\u2019s leading office districts, Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Yurakucho (laughs). Marunouchi, which is already one of the best gourmet cities in the world, should be strengthened further. Since there are a wide variety of people in Tokyo, I think many people will gather in search of things that can only be obtained by the five senses, such as entertainment and gourmet, and as a result, there will surely be more good dialogue.<\/p>\nKey points<\/h2>\n
\n\u30fbDigital technology can only cover vision and hearing. It is unable to stimulate the remaining senses of taste, smell, and touch.
\n\u30fbEverything that can be covered by vision and hearing alone is replaced by digital.
\n\u30fbThe physical office becomes a \u201cvenue for dialogue and empathy through the five senses.\u201d
\n\u30fbVarious people gather in search of things that can only be gained through the five senses, and as a result, there will surely be more good dialogue.\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"