Sisu

フィンランド魂のような第二次世界大戦の歴史を踏まえた言葉で、Whatever situation you are in, you do what you gotta do and never fail until you overcome it.のようなニュアンスでしょうか。お寿司と似ていて覚えやすいですが、意味は全然違います。

というわけで、久しぶりの更新は、サウナとムーミンとサンタクロースの国、フィンランドからお送りしようと思います。滞在中に100のサウナを体験したく、しばらくはサウナ記録帳にします。

Determined

A day of determination.

腹括った日。

New year resolution 2016

Front lines in 2015 were too broad to achieve something significant; instead 2016 should be a year of focus under some constraints.

Work: to envision the future of Japan around 2030, when I will be arund 50 y.o., and hypothesize my ideal position then there.

Private: while being healthy, to get exposure to various art of stories at least twice a month (so far achieved since the return) and to start Kyudo anew.

Cheers,

My (yet) personal suspicion on Big Data

Some Cambridge scientists say, Big Data should have 5 Big Vs (Volume, Velocity, Variety, Veracity, and Value) of Big Data, including:

• its Volume in terms of size, or the number of variables needed to describe it,

• its Velocity, in how it’s collected and processed in real-time,

• the Variety of its diverse, linked and unstructured datasets,

• its Veracity in terms of where it originates from and how complete it is,

• and finally its Value, and especially how the use, linkage and re-use of data can provide crucial new insights that may have been unforeseen at the time the data was collected.

I've recently begun learning basics of data science to feel refreshed, yet based on my personal experience with Google (still receiving a handful spam emails unfiltered by Gmail) and Amazon (rarely alert me when a new book of series/authors I've been following, even I've bought tonnes of Kindle books), I am still not sure why those super intelligent data scientist cannot solve such appear-to-be-simple problems, which I'd love to know anyway:-)

2015 New Year resolution (belated)

After several short trips to Korea, Japan, the US, and Spain within a few weeks, I finally came back in London, (caught a cold again), and successfully extended my visa to remain in the UK as a happy dependent :-p.

Now, belatedly, is the time to set new year's targets as every year. This year, again, I should stick to rather simple targets (rough allocation of time); this year is going to be a year of totally challenging new stuff:

• Career: to success in seed financing for the startup (50%).
• Private: to learn anew not to be bored; through studying Finance (MSc-level) and Economics (BSc-level) (20%), learning programming (20%) and absorbing various contents to write up a short fiction (10%).

Happy New Year 2015 monument, in a sort of traditional Japanese way with an orange.

Regrettably, last year I did not achieve much regarding my revised targets:

1. Keep exercise every week: Not really at all. After an accident in golfing, I stopped playing it. 
2. Complete the Cambridge MBA with writing up the final dissertation on 'innovation and corporate governance': Done, but not fully satisfied with what I wrote up.
3. Confirm a place, likely in London, for researching management in the UK while working on the entrepreneurial project: The startup goes well so far (definitely this is the greatest achievement unexpectedly), yet failed to secure a research position.
4. Draft a story of science fiction. An idea of multi-worlds/minds structure is there, yet still too vague to start writing.

Anyway, my life to get busy living goes on.

From a new year's trip to Grand Canyon in the US

What's different between entrepreneurs and turnaround managers?

As I worked in a boutique consulting firm which is good at a hands-on turnaround of a distressed firm, I have witnessed successes and failures of several turnaround managers. Now I step into an entrepreneurial world, I just summarise how I learnt would be beneficial to my entrepreneurial career going forward.

Entrepreneurs and turnaround managers appear quite different; however some important characteristics would be shared: especially, both of them have to demonstrate strong leadership to face and overcome difficult situations.

What is different?

• Obviously, entrepreneurs are those who make one from zero, while turnaround managers are who turn minus into plus. Especially in the initial phase, turnaround managers would focus on streamlining existing operations and cost bases, while entrepreneurs try and error how to make revenues.
• In other words, turnaround managers have to decide which existing business, products, and customers to be terminated; whilst entrepreneurs have to figure out where to start its business.
• Entrepreneurs can do hands-on management on everyday operations as the size of the team should be small; yet turnaround managers usually have to manage multiple layers in the organisation which could have several hundreds or more employees. How to mobilise the organisational, or internal, resources  is a key for successful turnaround managers; while how to leverage external networks of different expertise is required for successful entrepreneurs. 

What is shared?

• Sooner or later, business development, or how to make revenues, is essentially crucial to grow the company (for the first time, or again), which should deliver a good momentum among employees. Without such a momentum, initial enthusiasm will be fade out or worn out.
• It is all about how to attract, engage, and motivate people involved; both entrepreneurs and turnaround managers have to make stakeholders believe that the company will become successful in a short time-frame. Thus a deep understanding of the nature of stakeholders are necessary to be successful.
• Both are financially restricted very much; so a well-balanced control of money is beneficially to the firm, whetherever it is in the early development phase or distress.
• Everyone is neither perfect nor a superstar, therefore a team of management, especially how top two or three people interact and communicate, would determine the success or failure of the firm.

This view should be changed after my entrepreneurial journey, which I look forward to experiencing now!!

I hope I won't die like this, after working too hard and long :-p

Get busy living

The feeling of disappointment, out of unsuccessful MPhil/PhD applications, has gone in a few days, implying I might not have been utterly serious about it. Anyway, I couldn't make it on the way to academic research of management, which I felt like doing so for months. This, notwithstanding, surprisingly yet ironically encouraged me to do my best in the management of real businesses; a startup with Cambridge PhD guys.

Life goes on; I will keep moving to 'get busy living' rather than 'busy dying'.

What would I carve after all? Probably nothing other than my name and what I love.

Half-year reflection of 2014 Targets and its revision

The first half of 2014 is over; now is the time for self-reflection. Looking back what I've promised as 2014 Targets,

1. Grow peppermint: tried but unfortunately eaten by snails... (50%)
2. Practice golfing: went two games, with the best score of 154 (75%)
3. Complete the Cambridge MBA course: obtained the Lent term average mark of slightly over 70, largely thanks to the efforts made for the Global Consulting Project (80%; yet final marks are to be confirmed within a few months) 
4. Write its final dissertation among economics, corporate governance, and network theory: this should be completed in the coming months [TBD]
5. Confirm a place on MPhil in behavioural science, social science, or economics: still waiting; this should have been confirmed by the end of June [TBD]
6. Draft a story of Science Fiction in my native tongue: nothing progressed (0%)

Overall, the Lent term plus GCP (Jan - Apr) was the time of studying hard, and finally the Easter term with many electives gave me room for doing other stuff.

My revised goals for the 2H 2014 are:

1. Keep exercise every week, possibly golfing and swimming; 
2. Complete the Cambridge MBA with writing up the final dissertation on 'innovation and corporate governance' (with the aim of achieving the Best MBA Dissertation Award);
3. Confirm a place, likely in London, for researching management in the UK while working on the entrepreneurial project with the guys from the Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge;
4. Draft a story of Science Fiction.

Magdalene College, Cambridge, UK

Talks/Seminars/Conferences around Cambridge in June 2014

Finally reached hundred!!

Newmarket, UK

The number of participations per month has been fluctuated due to the MBA burdens, and shows obviously negative correlation with the burdens: exams, assignments, and projects (weighted as three assignments).



Full List

• #97: Who are the sentiment traders? Evidence from the cross-section of stock returns and demand +++
• #98: Investor Composition and Liquidity: An Analysis of Japanese Stocks +++
• #99: What is life? ++++
• #100: Molecular Genetics of Economic Decision Making. ++++

Unlearn to learn

Why do I have to unlearn?

Because it would give me adequate space in my mind to absorb new behaviours and attitudes that could be beneficial to my next step, which should be a quantum leap, not a continuous improvement from now. I don't say that what I've learnt becomes useless, but I have a gut feeling that it would become more or less irrelevant to my performance in a higher level going forward.

I know I can manage to do well just as a manager, or as an employee who is used by the boss. But what I want to pursue is more like an independent professional with a strong expertise in a certain field where I can be best in class, ideally worldwide. Yes, positioning (where to compete) would be definitely important, but also the capabilities, or combinations of what I know, how I conduct, and whom I leverage, should be aligned to the positioning.

Unlearning should follow steps of identification, reduction, and elimination:

1. identify what I am good at;
2. reduce the time on what I am good at while improving my performance;
3. eliminate some actions which I am good at while maintaining my performance; and
4. then get used to my new habits. 

To do so, I would say being an MBA candidate is not too bad, because I can try new stuff in less risky environment such as group discussions for assignments and the entrepreneurial project I am working on for months. For me, this MBA is a part of unlearning to learn more.

Obviously learning...

Failure forces me to think over.

I failed to get a place in the MPhil ISO (Innovation, Strategy, Organisation) course at Judge Business School.

Presumably, it must have been the result of my bad, in the Cambridge standard, GPA in my undergraduate degree in Japan. Had I studied very hard in that period, however, I would not have ended up coming and living here. Putting differently, I would have never considered working or living abroad, had I not encountered the international experiences I had in the four years of my most sensitive time in my life, which was in the end at the expense of the university grades.

If I were asked to choose between the trade-off again, I still would say I would take the current choice, which gave me international exposure, management failures (and some success, maybe), and a few but lifelong friends, all of which shaped my career and life so far after the graduation.

No Pain, No Gain. Move on.

The River Cam

New Year 2014 Targets

Last year's targets were to join an international MBA and to decide a course after it. I caught them luckily.

A cat catching, or presumably stealing, a fish, at Tetouan, Morocco.

With those targets very well achieved, now is the time for setting new year's ambitious ones, at lovely Chefchaouen in Morocco.

New year's Eve's sunset of Chefchaouen, Morroco

This year's targets are, in the less priority order:

1. Grow peppermint;
2. Practice golfing;
3. Complete the Cambridge MBA course;
4. Write its final dissertation among economics, corporate governance, and network theory;
5. Confirm a place on MPhil in behavioural science, social science, or economics; and last and actually least but essential,
6. Draft a story of Science Fiction in my native tongue.

Still much to do in my life, and thus to enjoy greatly. Even my will is just an illusion comprised of my body and brain, I would love to live with it.

An essential part of Magna Carta.

The target of participating 100 talks/seminars/conferences around Cambridge

In order to expand and shape my curiosity beyond the MBA course, I set myself a target to participate 100 talks/seminars/conferences within a year: 30 in Michaelmas, 30 in Lent, 30 in Easter, 10 in Summer.

The number of + after each talk/seminar means point out of five grades.

• +++++ Great inspiring person(s); expanded my horizons; felt like pursuing the way 
• ++++ Something new to me; stimulative and/or provocative contents.
• +++ Good enough: helped me re-structure my thoughts and knowledge.
• ++ Boring; fallen asleep
• + Disappointed; was about to or did escape

2012年の振り返り、2013年の目標

新年あけましておめでとうございます。2012年はとても充実した年でした。
2012年の目標
Work: to deepen leaning on finance and turnaround so that I can manage to handle those issues
→業務上で再生案件および投資案件それぞれに携わることで、一つまた理解が深まり自分なりのマネージのポイントがわかりました◎

Private: to pass MBA admissions (hopefully top-tier schools in Europe)
→とりあえず1st roundで出した英国の某ビジネススクールからはオファーがもらえたのでgood、あと数校の結果を待ってどこに行くか最終決定する予定です◎

2013年の目標も極力シンプルに、公私併せて二つだけにしておきます。

Work: to deepen learning on economics, especially political economics, so that I can discuss with the specialists

Private: to determine which way I will pursue after my graduation of an MBA course

シンクタンクの仕事で一気に理解を引き上げないといけない経済・政治経済・財政・金融の理解を深めるのと、1年MBAコースの「後」の選択について遅くとも年内には決定しておきたいと思っています。

さて、人生の岐路に立ってゆっくりと悩む貴重な時間を、今年は満喫しようと思います。

McKiney's POI(Portfolio of Initiatives)/マッキンゼーのポートフォリオ・オブ・イニシアティブ)を考える

マッキンゼーのPOI(Portfolio of Initiatives, ポートフォリオ・オブ・イニシアティブ)についてこのブログに来る方が定期的にいるようですが、本質的なところは提唱者でもある近藤ジェームス正晃さんの解説ないしMcKinsey Quarterlyが分かりやすいですが、自分の理解を詳述しておきます。

横軸：収益化のタイミング（事業特性によって幅は異なるので括弧内は一例）
・短期：1年以内
・中期：2～3年
・長期：5年～

縦軸：イニシアティブへのfamiliarity（親和性）
・Familiar：事業として詳しい分野で期待値が収斂する（例、既存顧客への既存事業＝コア事業）
・Unfamiliar：詳しくないが期待値は一定の幅でコントロールできる（例、コア事業からの滲み出し or 既存顧客への新規事業展開）
・Uncertain：定義ができずどれだけ振れ幅があるかも分からない（例、新規客への新規事業展開）

基本的には、Familiarな分野で短/中/長期の偏りを避けてバランスを保つのが基本的な経営ですが、ただ、それだけだとfamiliar分野への一本足打法によるリスク（例、市場がdisruptive innovationsで一気にshrinkする、規制変更によりゲームのルールが劇的に変わる、等）を回避していくことができないため、そのために１．短期収益の必要性と、２．取れるリスクの総量、見据えつつUnfamiliar or Uncertain initiativesをポートフォリオとして組み込んでおくことで、事業あるいは会社全体でのリスクを減らすことができると思います。

実は、本質的に優秀な経営者はこれらを直感的に理解できていて、ただ、集合的にチーム経営を進めていく場合は、縦軸・横軸を社内できちんと定義（そのためには、How does a initiative contribute to profit and when? What are we familiar with and why?などの質問を細分化する必要がありますが）して、明示的に経営陣で共有して足並みを揃え、方向性を合致させ組織力を効かせるというのが王道かと思います。

ちなみに、このフレームワーク、個人の人生のポートフォリオを検討する上でも結構使えたりするものだと思っています。

マッキンゼー戦略の進化―不確実性時代を勝ち残る (The McKinsey anthology) 著者 : 名和高司 ダイヤモンド社 発売日 : 2003-03 ブクログでレビューを見る»

DigitizationとThe Internetにより「戦略」というものの意味が拡散し始めたころの記録として、後に読まれる価値はあるかもしれませんが、結局は直近のMcKinsey Quarterlyからの抜粋翻訳なので、Historically provenでもないものが載ってしまっているのも事実でしょう。Portfolio of Initiativesは個人的には好きなフレームワークですが、これも残らないんでしょうかね。