Joe Paterno, former football head coach at Penn State, passed away last Sunday. Because of his position, power and influence he had over the past decade, so many people has been reacting in various ways over what has been called the biggest US college scandal and the way Penn State fired Paterno unceremoniously to handle… Continue reading History is no longer created by limited few writers
Category: Learning from people, books
The moment of AHA!
Recent Ethnography Research, Particularly of Recruitment Challanges in Japan
Over the past three years, I have become more and more concerned with the difficulty in creating highly exciting learning session for foreign inspiration/innovation seeking customers of both design companies and end user companies. It has a lot to do with recruiting process for people to research. I see following problems in recruiting, some of… Continue reading Recent Ethnography Research, Particularly of Recruitment Challanges in Japan
Happy New Year
Best wishes for the year 2012! At the end of 2011, I felt the important end to a phase in my life that lasted for 7 years. Call it, learning to be a leader phase. Of all the places, I learned how to be a leader from spending lots of time with my family. I… Continue reading Happy New Year
Identity integrity of adults and children in internet world, physical world
Having children was the best thing I have ever done. Ever since my first son was born 26 years ago, my children taught me more than anybody else I know. Living together with mother-in-law, husband and children was the next best thing. As researcher, I would always be stimulated. One of the most amazing things… Continue reading Identity integrity of adults and children in internet world, physical world
Human evolution to live out in the space
I might have written on this subject before, but the thought keeps coming back. Perhaps it deserves to be revisited again so here it goes. The earth is getting too crowded. Water supply is short, food supply is short for the current and growing population, they say. If one feels like rationing is the way… Continue reading Human evolution to live out in the space
Social Media Balance Out Traditional Media, And Japanese Responsibility Starts at The Bottom
6 weeks after the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, NHK online news announced that 27,931 people are dead or missing, and over 136,000 people are still living in evacuation in extreme hardship at Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures. As the rest of Japan slowly but steadily recover from the earthquake, recovery is still far away for… Continue reading Social Media Balance Out Traditional Media, And Japanese Responsibility Starts at The Bottom
Robot EVERYBODY Appreciates
At the InnoRobo I attended in March, we talked a lot about how the robots will be integrated into our lives. Here is a concrete case. Robot that everybody appreciates. Robot that was vital to diagnosing the Fukushima Nuclear Power plant. The 2011/04/17 Yomiuri Online article reads: On the 17th, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) succeeded… Continue reading Robot EVERYBODY Appreciates
Understanding Japanese Culture Through Music
Joseph Campbell talked about the role of mythology in people's lives. It's so true. And it seems to me music tells so much about each culture. Modern Japanese choral music performed by children at schools show so many things about Japanese culture. Importance of harmony between people. Working together. The lyrics of modern choral music… Continue reading Understanding Japanese Culture Through Music
In a nutshell: How innovations happen, how businesses grow
If you would search on the web with "Apple innovation" or "Sony demise", you would find plenty of interesting reads. Talk is easy. I do it all the time, and I often get paid for doing it. But to actually make a product or service that people actually pays for, and sell them in quantity,… Continue reading In a nutshell: How innovations happen, how businesses grow
Big topic: Are we born to run?
I took my sons on edu-vacation last December, but one of the thing that I treasure from the trip is not what we did together, but the encounter with Christopher McDougal's thoughts. My 16 year old was having his English lesson with a tutor at Starbucks at Barnes and Noble in San Jose, and I… Continue reading Big topic: Are we born to run?
Love of leather, paper
Designers with capability to create and has in reality created things that are truly wonderful to those designers who can talk about design are like real plants to fake plants. Mike Abelson is one of those real designer. He often talks about about his love of working with leather, and recently, he was telling me… Continue reading Love of leather, paper
Creating best fit workplace
Mike Abelson and Yuri Shimizu's Research is inspiring. Their ability to capture the spirit of things is amazing. I am stingy when it comes to spending my own money, but they make things so well, I end up buying them despite their price. I was inspired by their booklet , AT Work. I have found… Continue reading Creating best fit workplace
Things reveal themselves if we become interested
For about 7 years, I had firsthand experience in taking part in crunching numbers at a business unit. Before doing that, all the education I had was taking a course in accounting in college and all the actual experience I had in accounting and finance was managing my own young, small family finance. It was… Continue reading Things reveal themselves if we become interested
Reading on paper vs. online
It's been 5 days since I returned from the US, but I still have a jet lag. I woke up and got out of bed at 3:50 am. Before starting to work, I read online for nearly an hour about psychokinesis, para-psychology, Dean Radin, Amazon customer reviews on Dean Radin's books, University of Pennsylvania. At… Continue reading Reading on paper vs. online
User segmentation, profiling is dangerous
I've learned about Feargal Quinn's Crowning the Customer through reading Tom Peters blog a few years back.  It's a classic. I read it over and over, and each time, I am inspired on different pages. What I was inspired this time was what Mr. Quinn wrote about "seeing customer as people". He encouraged his workers… Continue reading User segmentation, profiling is dangerous
FUJIKO SUDA 