This is a book written by Tomohiko Ishii, who compiled essential teachings he learned working with Toshio Suzuki, a famous director of the Japanese animation studio STUDIO GHIBLI.
After reading this book, I selected two teachings amongst many. Let’s get straight to the meat and potatoes of it.
Key Takeaways
It may sound counterintuitive – at least it did to me. However, after reading through the pages, it made a lot of sense. Let me explain.
The point here is that we all tend to postpone less critical tasks that don’t require an urgent response until the deadline or even indefinitely.
And guess what happens next?
When it’s behind schedule, someone suddenly asks you how it’s coming along. Your best shot is to pretend as if you gave it some thought (maybe) and finally get around to it.
What happens next?
You’ll lose control of the schedule by throwing “unexpected” (now urgent) work to your schedule. Basically, you are inviting urgent tasks by procrastinating smaller tasks that have piled up.
And, the issue is: you ultimately lose the time for truly important tasks even if you set aside some time for them. Now the “newly-created” (truth: it’s been always next to you) not-so-important tasks are sitting on top of your shiny important task.
Here’s the key message. Don’t let non-urgent (not-so-important) tasks sit around. They suddenly become urgent monsters and jump up on you.
Instead, take care of those non-urgent tasks first. It will give you a calm and focused time for your important tasks.
Personally, more often than not, I realize those non-urgent taks don’t take much time. You get to it and are surprised by how fast you could take care of it. Why would you leave them then?
If you have been in the business for a few years, you should be familiar with problem solving techniques. Thare are many out there. I have learned a few. But how about this:
Did anybody teach you not to solve the issue?
No one did to me.
Here’s the point: if someone comes up and asks you to help with their issue, what do you do?
That’s when you can show off your creative problem solving techniques, right? But, Toshio Suzuki does the opposite. He says:
More often than not, we actually don’t wish to solve problems. When you find a solution, you’ll need to be responsible for its execution. It means you’ll get more things to do. That’s why we need someone who can just listen to us, instead of trying to find a solution.
This was an eye-opener for me.
Here’s the takeaway: identify what is really desired first.
Of course, some critical problems need to be solved. But, as you try to have a closer look, I bet you’ll be surprised by the fact that many issues don’t actually need solutions.
In the book, the author emphasizes how much people trust Toshio Suzuki and ask for advice from him. He is very trustworthy. But what he does is not solve problems.
That’s why people gravitate towards him.
Firstly, don’t underestimate the risk that non-urgent tasks can pose to you. If I were to add another point, I’d say that there’s also a mental liability that lingers in your head, telling you that you are postponing things and, therefore, being lazy. This affects your mood negatively, whether you are consciously aware of it or not.
Prioritize those non-urgent tasks first. Allocate ample time for your essential tasks. Often, you can use the time spent adding items to your to-do list to complete those small tasks.
Secondly, never assume that people want you to solve all their issues. Jjust listen to them before taking action. Often, that alone works like magic. Why spend your valuable time trying to solve a problem that doesn’t require a solution? Invest your time in something significant.
Marketing and localization consultant in Japan. LinkedIn here.