“What is Ikigai? What does ‘get to your Gemba’ mean. How can you use PechaKucha? And what does it have to do with learning?”
Ger’s Learning Notes #08
Japan
The last few weeks a lot of things related to Japan popped up in different places. Ever heard someone say 'going to the Gemba'? While we were preparing and facilitating sessions about ‘learning on the job’ we (Anouk van Hees, Ank Dierckx, Ronald de Pijper, and Dick Krikke) often referred to the Gemba (explained in the learning notes).
At the Dutch NextLearning conference Nick van Dam, CLO of McKinsey, referred to Ikigai as an important concept for staying fit for the future.
A few days later Jane Bozarth announced that the twitter chat #lrnchat included Ikigai as a discussion topic.
The Japanese inspiration continued as Evert Pruis and I had the honour to work together with Koko Nakahara, CEO at Instruction Design Inc. The three of us are delivering a session on Artificial Intelligence at the ATD conference in Atlanta later this month. This episode of the learning notes is dedicated to Koko.
I trust these ‘Japanese’ learning notes are valuable to you as a professional. As an added benefit, imagine how cool it would be to talk about Ikigai, Gemba, PechaKucha and Nemawashi at your next party.
(1) Ikigai: the reason you get up in the morning
by Aly Juma
What’s it about?
Ikigai is the Japanese word for ‘reason for being’ or as mentioned in the title of this blog ‘the reason you get up in the morning’. It’s about finding the best combination of what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for.
Why read it?
- After reviewing many posts and video’s – this one gives a clear and brief explanation of Ikigai, including the Ikigai venn diagram and some beautiful pictures.
- Ikigai seems to be(come) a popular concept and is very much related to the profession of learning and development – so you should know about it!
- It’s a very positive concept: it even seems to be the ‘secret sauce’ of the people living in Okinawa who live very long.
Where to find it?
(2) Go to the Gemba
by Deborah Adler
What’s it about?
Go to the Gemba means: go to the real place, go to where the work gets done. A good advice for many professionals.
Why read it?
- Go to the Gemba is the most important thing that I learned when I worked for a Japanese company. It’s absolutely valuable and important for learning and development professionals to understand the work, work processes and context of the people we want to support with learning.
- I love the perspective of the designer Deborah Adler: her examples, challenges and solutions are so clear and inspiring to explain the ‘go to the Gemba’ concept.
Where to find it?
(3) PechaKucha
by PechaKucha.org
What’s it about?
PechaKucha, also known as 20×20, is a modern format and style to deliver a presentation. You have to tell your story via 20 slides, only pictures, no text and each slide will only be up on screen for 20 seconds (autocue).
Why read it?
- PechaKucha has become quite mainstream today but often the starting points are applied only in a very loose way and that is a pity (or a shame!).
- Dive into the original source of PechaKucha so you know how it is meant to be applied – don’t forget that the presentations are ‘conversation starters’. So if you organise or deliver a PechaKucha be sure conversation is included.
- Find your local PechaKucha night and plan your visit – you’ll love it! And there is even a PechaKucha of the day app available.
Where to find it?
(4) Nemawashi
by The Original Blog of Toyota GB
What’s it about?
Nemawashi refers to creating commitment, bringing together and exploring the points of view of different stakeholders before taking a decision (I had to learn it the hard way).
Why watch it?
- What I love, and what I believe is very valuable, is the wise story behind the Japanese way of working. In any profession, in any culture, the art of creating consensus – not for the sake of consensus but for the sake of effective decision making – seems very valuable to me.
- Read this and all the other 11 pillars of the Toyota Production System in this fantastic blog – it is a very useful toolset (including mindset!) and try to apply all you can in your work processes.
Where to find it?
Ger Driesen
Loves to connect people, ideas and inspiration in the global learning community.
On the wish-list to learn: Forging (yes, as forging steel)
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