As a team member, how do we recognize the visions we already have?
In my last article, I talked about how to deal with situations in which we find it difficult to balance our inner energy and our KOKOROZASHI(aspirations) by using our true intentions and Tatemae, and by self-disclosure, without discarding our inner energy.
Some of you may have thought that all the talk about vision so far has been written with the assumption that people in leadership positions are supposed to create visions. The second question I often get when I talk about vision is as follows.
Since I am not in a leadership position, I cannot set a vision for the team. In that case, how should I think about it?
When we are not in the position of a team leader, but in the position of a member or follower, we are less likely to come up with a vision for the team, and more likely to have a vision that has already been decided, or that the leader will come up with.
In such a case, the question becomes, how should we, as members, view the vision that has already been set forth?
Reinterpret the team’s vision in one’ s own way
In conclusion, I would suggest that we reinterpret the vision of the team in our own way.
Reinterpreting the vision means superimposing the team’s vision and our own subjective truths, aspirations, and career visions, finding the similarities between them, and interpreting them in our own way.
This figure shows how the relationship between individuals and organizations is changing. In my previous article, I mentioned that we will be entering an era in which “individuals and organizations will have a collaborative relationship on an equal footing, in which they agree to work together based on their mutual subjective truths, purposes and visions.”
This “to work together based on their mutual subjective truths, purposes and visions” and “reinterpreting the team’s vision,” as I mentioned earlier, refer to the exact same thing.
In order for individuals and organizations to “have a collaborative relationship on an equal footing”, organizations need to value the subjective truths and aspirations of individuals, and individuals need to proactively reinterpret the mission and vision of the organization.
Let me give you a concrete example of what I mean by reinterpreting the team’s vision.
One of our (Alue’s) visions for 2025 is as follows.
With the basic concept of “focusing on the outcomes of training,” Alue becomes a top player in the domestic training market for large companies.
Let’s say that one of our employees has the following image of what he or she wants to be.
I want to help people have more opportunities and choices in their lives through my involvement, and I want to help them work energetically.
Here’s how to reinterpret the team’s vision, connecting it to what he/she wants to be.
▼Focus on the outcomes of training.
…The outcome of training is an increase in the number of choices for persons to be trained. By focusing on the outcomes of training, it is possible to increase the quality and quantity of the choices for those trainees.▼Training market for large domestic companies
For me, whether it’s a large company, a small or medium-sized company, or an individual, it doesn’t make much difference in terms of the “people in front of me that I can relate to. If I look at it from a different perspective, being able to support people who work for large companies connects to what I want to be. In the future, I would like to be able to provide services to small and medium-sized companies and individuals, which is even more in line with where I want to be.▼Top players
…The more the company becomes a top player, the more difficult projects that are not straightforward will increase. Even in such difficult situations, being able to contribute to “increasing choices” connects with what I want to be.
The point is not to make judgments that are good or bad, positive or negative, but to proactively find and interpret areas of commonality. In the example above, the vision of “focusing on training outcomes” is reinterpreted as “increasing the quality and quantity of choices,” and common ground is found.
If we can reinterpret in this way, when we work in a team, we can both connect to the vision of the team and connect to our own inner energy.
Be respectful of the difference between our own subjective truth and the vision of the team
On the other hand, there is no need to try to force all the components of the team’s vision to find common ground. It is a good approach to actively find common ground, but there is no need to force commonality.
In the above example, the vision is focused on “large companies,” while the individual’s wishes include “small and medium-sized companies and individuals. It’s not a bad thing to be different, but it’s important to cherish the differences.
This “difference” is “personality”. From the team’s point of view, the inclusion of such diverse personalities will foster diversity in the organization, making it easier to create innovation and respond appropriately to crises.
This is not to say that it is good or bad, but on the organizational culture axis of individualization and collectivization, Japan has a strong culture of collectivism. If this goes too far, it can lead to an atmosphere of homogeneity and a sense that “being different is not good.”
Such an atmosphere of excessive homogeneity makes it difficult for individuals to value their personalities, and for teams to innovate because of the loss of diversity, or to respond appropriately to a crisis because of a tendency to focus on a certain biased way of thinking.
In this sense, the “difference” between the team’s vision and the individual’s subjective truth is valuable for both the individual and the team, and I hope that we can cherish it without discarding it.
Creating visions and reinterpreting visions are almost the same
Many of you may have read this far and realized that the essence of creating a vision and reinterpreting a vision are almost the same.
There are three requirements for a good vision ( cause-oriented requirements), which also apply when it comes to reinterpreting a vision.
・Connectedness with the subjective truth:
→Reinterpret a vision while connecting with the subjective truth.・Not ambition, but KOKOROZASHI:
→It is preferable if we can reinterpret a vision in terms of KOKOROZASHI(aspiration) rather than ambition. However, make sure that the connection to the inner energy is not lost.・Implications of a transformative change in consciousness:
→Reinterpret the already existing visions, wondering what kind of transformative changes in consciousness they imply or can imply.
It makes little difference whether we create a new vision or reinterpret an existing one. It also makes little difference whether we are in a leadership position or as a member of a team.
The most important thing I wanted to convey this time is that “anyone, regardless of their position, can set a good vision.”
Here are the quests of the day. (If you’d like, please share your thoughts in the comments.)
・What is the vision of the organization/team you belong to (or used to belong to)?
・How might you reinterpret the vision that is already set forth in terms of the following?
・Connectedness with the subjective truth:
→Reinterpret a vision while connecting with the subjective truth.・Not ambition, but KOKOROZASHI:
→It is preferable if we can reinterpret a vision in terms of KOKOROZASHI(aspiration) rather than ambition. However, make sure that the connection to the inner energy is not lost.・Implications of a transformative change in consciousness:
→Reinterpret the already existing visions, wondering what kind of transformative changes in consciousness they imply or can imply.
Bunshiro Ochiai
