What exactly is work for you?
Have you ever thought about the meaning of work and what it brings to your life, not just in terms of occupation?
Long before people were still building civilizations, work may have been more of an act necessary to live, in a word, than the concept of work.
What about in modern society? A wide variety of jobs have been created, and there is competition for advancement, human relations, stress and worries, and so many other factors that it is impossible to describe what work is in a few words.
Isn’t there not a reversal of the phenomenon in which an act that was originally necessary for life is now lived for the sake of work?
In this article, we would like to consider what work is and the essence of work.
Work is about providing “value”.
There is no need to think too hard about work; first of all, we need to consider only the essence of work.
Then, what is the essence of the work? It is to provide what the customer or client really wants. It may sound obvious, but that is really all there is to it.
And as a company that hires employees, it is also important to attract employees who can provide what the client is looking for.
It is important to provide value that already exists, but it is also important to offer new value. However, here again, too much thinking often causes to start unnecessary things.
First of all, be aware that you should focus only on what is necessary and discard what is unnecessary. Keep it simple and focus on what is essential. Concentrate on what is most important and discard everything else.
The same is true for a company. There is no need to spend the limited resources of running a company, such as employees, funds, and time, on things that are unnecessary. Concentrate only on the value that customers are looking for.
The only thing we should strive for in our work is to create value. This is all you need to think about.
Stability, Income, Status” are unnecessary desires.
We have talked about the essence of work, but the reality is that many people have forgotten what it really is.
From here, let’s broaden our perspective a bit and think in terms of business.
Many people in the world are only concerned about stable income and career advancement in order to raise their status. However, this way of thinking is far removed from the essence of business.
What is the essence of business? It is simply “supply and demand”.
Imagine how business has been created in the past.
In other words, business is about providing value. If there is a problem, a desire, an anxiety, or some other unfulfilled element, they want to satisfy it. Providing something to someone who needs it is what business is all about.
If you are thinking only about your own stable life and income, then you have lost sight of the essence of business, which is to provide value.
How can a person who does not create and provide value be needed not only by the company but also by society? If you feel that you are no longer being entrusted with important work at your company, you might have lost sight of the essence of your work style.
Let’s imagine that you are the customer.
Have you ever felt that a company’s products prioritize profit over value? If you felt that way, would you still continue to buy that product?
In fact, I believe many people would avoid that product or company.
This is because, as consumers, we are subconsciously seeking the essence of “value provision,” and we feel that the product is out of this essence.
Thus, even if you are not consciously aware of it, if the product is out of the essence of providing value, it is bound to show up as a result.
No need to Compete or Compare.
However, in doing business, many people think that they have to make better products than other companies, that they want to make more sales than anyone else, and in general, that is what they want to do.
We want to make superior products and increase sales more than anyone else. It is not wrong to think so. It is just a matter of how to get to that point of thinking.
Please remember again the essence of business.
Essentially, you are supposed to be conscious of your customers and provide them with the value they are looking for. However, if you forget the essence of your business and only think in the way described above, you are already only conscious of your rivals, not your customers.
The important thing is not to beat your rivals, but to make your customers happy.
It is important to think only about how you can provide the value that is being sought after, and how you can increase that value.
Are not the founders and managers of world-class companies that everyone knows and that are successful in their business the same type of person?
A company’s brand power does not come from winning the competition. It is created by providing value.
The same can be said for life. We are supposed to live to be happy. Not to win the competition.
A leader’s job is to decide who to entrust.
Now, what about leaders?
An important job of a leader is to make decisions. And in this decision making, it is very important to focus on the essentials.
In a nutshell, the leader’s job is to decide who to entrust. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the most important task for a leader.
Leaders are constantly faced with many judgments and decisions. If they are time-limited, they need to make decisions quickly and accurately.
However, it is impossible for a leader to make all decisions. The larger the organization, the more difficult it becomes.
What is needed is to reduce the number of decisions that you directly make.
Concentrate only on the things that only you can really make decisions on, and entrust the rest to someone else.
If there is someone who knows more about the subject matter than you do, give that person the authority to make decisions, and leave the rest to them. In other words, “deciding who to entrust” is the most important job of a leader.
In a company, it is better to leave decision-making to the field. This is because the people on the frontlines who are directly involved with customers and who actually produce the products know the value that customers are looking for the best.
In other words, the people on the shop floor are the professionals in their field. In addition, those in the field who are given the authority to make decisions by the leader will be more motivated and will be able to work in a way that provides more value than ever before.
Rather than having one person making decisions in many areas, having the person most knowledgeable in each area make decisions in each area will ensure that decisions are made in a way that is most consistent with the essence of the business.
This is the most important job of a leader: to decide who to entrust with decisions.
And once you have decided who to entrust, it is important to leave everything to that person. Don’t interrupt them in the middle of the process or give your own opinion. That will lead to a decision-making process that is different from the essence of the decision.
Simplify your work and life.
We have talked about the essence of work and business, and the same is true in life.
Rather than complicating things, it is better to focus on just one thing and put your passion into it, and your goals and dreams will come true.
When you want to tell something to someone you care about, the more important it is, the simpler it is to convey it to them.
I think the word “productivity” is often used today. Some people think that when they hear the word productivity, they should do more than one thing at a time because they need to do more, but in fact, it is more productive to focus on one thing at a time.
Simplify your work and life. Start today.
Comments