Are You Focused on I or We?

I’m in Shinagawa-ku Tokyo for a week working with some senior leaders. Walking through Shinagawa train station when I arrived from Narita Airport on Monday I was again struck by the almost universal uniformity of dress. Men and women heading to or from work were almost all in black, with white shirts and black ties. It’s like a uniform, but for the entire country. I heard that when they shutdown of the nuclear plant after the tsunami last year, they realized that electricity would be at a premium and so they told all the employers throughout the country to allow their workers to wear something other than suits. If that happened at all, it is not evident now.

In a country that imposes such uniformity, I wonder if personal greatness can resonate. There is a communication discipline here where people rarely speak about “I” and mostly speak about “we.” It is a country where community is the focus and tradition is the norm. Yet there are signs that Japanese also express themselves in unique styles and try to utilize their unique gifts. Just stopping at some of the clothing stores I found styles much more avant-garde than I typically find in the US. I assume that when they get out of work, they allow their fashion to reflect their individuality.

But aside from fashion, the focus is on the community and how each individual can benefit the community. Though it is not the wholesale focus on the self as in other countries, there is an aspect of utilizing gifts and talents, but for the larger group. That creates a drive toward excellence that embraces the whole country because if one individual lags, the rest of them suffer.

The concept, used mostly in industry but can be applied here is called kaizen, or continuous improvement. It is a deliberate focus on making things better and more efficient. I can see where this applies to their development as individuals, because by self-improvement the community improves.

Striving toward personal greatness does not create a dichotomy between self and community. The two can be developed simultaneously. In truth, if all of us unleash our personal greatness, everyone will benefit from it.