From time to time, there are things about
which I have to make enquiries and I end up on a call to Japan. It can be a
shop, it can be a travel agent, it can be a university office. The people on
the other end are all different, but I always get such a good feeling. No
matter who you talk to and what their job is, everyone responds politely and
professionally. It’s times like these that I get back to thinking “Man, isn’t
Japanese culture great…” Here, there’s lots of friendly people, but it’s not
uncommon to find people who are clueless about their jobs. If you ask a
slightly complicated question, they’ll be hard pressed for an answer, and in
some extreme cases, they’ll just blasély say, “I have no idea!” In Japan, if
you said “I have no idea to a customer, it would be a huge deal, but the people
here are relaxed and aren’t ashamed of their ignorance and so they’re chilled
out, even when they’re doing what would be a full mea culpa routine in Japan. In the eyes of Japanese people, this
comes off as utter rudeness! Being born and raised in Tokyo, when faced with
such a completely laid-back attitude, even I get taken aback.
But, memorising all of a product’s minutiae
and getting to grips with Japan’s entire transport network is pretty intense,
don’t you think?
(Someone’s going to come at me with a “What are you saying? That’s all part and parcel!”…)
(Someone’s going to come at me with a “What are you saying? That’s all part and parcel!”…)
I understand that in an old-school
employment system (working in one place for your whole life) that you get more
and more specialised knowledge and that people around you have that
expectation. But now career changes are becoming more common, new products come
out faster and faster, and everything keeps on changing at dizzying speeds.
When, despite this, we’re asked to apply the same standards as before, it
causes huge amounts of stress. Up to a decade ago, if there was something you
didn’t know, time was you could take your time and say “I’ll just go out back
and check” or “I’ll know by tomorrow” until you found an answer. But now you’ve
usually got an answer within a second. This not having to wait around for a
response is, at first glance, convenient and a relief, but at the same time,
what about the amount of external pressure that then multiplies? And it gets
even worse if the boss is a perfectionist.
If you want absolutely everything done
perfectly, even if you could be everywhere at once, it wouldn’t be enough. I
reckon that, “maybe we don’t have to do things so perfectly, and what would
happen if we let something slip just a little”…
It depends how you look at things.
What if we gave up the standard we’ve been
convinced of up to now that if I don’t do this then I’m in trouble and lowered
it a little?
Normally it’s difficult to see whereabouts
our standards are, but if you’re like “I do my job perfectly and I get that
recognition, but I’m always tired I never have enough time”, maybe the bar’s
set a little too high.
A big part of these standards comes from
other people’s expectations, but a lot of it we make ourselves. And we become
racked by ideas like how we can’t forgive ourselves for falling short of these
standards. But we can say that, on a scale of 1 – 10, we’re at a 9, but what if
we drop to about a 7.5?
There’s no need to go down to the level of
the chilled out shop assistants in this country (around about a 5?) If you used
to be an honours student, the type who “failed” if they got less than 85%, then
now’s your chance more than ever!
If you manage 75%, bravo! What we ought to
be asking here is “Can I accept myself at 75%?” There are concerns of “if I do
this, then what will my boss, my co-workers, my clients, my students…”
whatever. But the real point is “Can I accept myself doing this and nothing
more than this?”
Am I still worthy?
Of course you are!
To ease up a little is to take care of
yourself. It’s lending an ear to your own needs, and giving yourself some
looking after. And the more you make yourself a priority, the better you can contribute
to those around you. Now that’s the kind of person that we can really call a
person of worth.
