I was in Japan for a while. I went for vacation to fulfill a dream, but I returned with a much deeper learning I imagined. I did not come to say that Japan is perfect (it is not, nor can it be extrapolated), but I did find a culture where details are at the service of common well -being. That experience completely transformed my vision of leadership and management. I found concrete and applicable learning that today are the basis of my professional approach and my way of leading. And it made me reflect a lot about our own organizations.
Because what struck me most was not order, cleaning or efficiency. It was understanding that The human is not left to random. That there is a design that not only contemplates people, but respects them in each small gesture.
There, each action seems thought so as not to hinder the life of the other. Coexistence is not imposed, It is designed. And that shows. No one pushes, even if there are crowds. No one shouts, even if there are chaos. No one needs to watch, because there is trust.
There is technology that allows you to self -manage, but there is always someone willing to help you with a smile so you don’t feel lost or uncomfortable. Because although there is technology, human warmth is not replaced, it is complemented. This balance – technology at the service of autonomy without losing human treatment – is a true competitive advantage.
I saw packages designed to the slightest detail: sandwiches designed to open without getting dirty, onigiris with precise instructions so that the algae does not touch the rice so far just. Every time I opened a product and found something designed to make my life easier, I felt that someone, somewhere, had thought of me. Designs that anticipate needs. That is also experience design. That is also leadership.
There, each action is measured by its impact on others rather than by individual interest, demonstrating that thinking about the group does not mean sacrificing the personal, but understanding that our actions generate impact on others. And that is why it acts with respect, with consideration, with conscience. As if each person imported. Because it matters.
Punctuality is not efficiency, it is respect for the time of the other. The rows work without surveillance because there is natural respect for the turn. And the streets are clean, even if there are no toos: simply because nobody throws garbage. In public transport, most avoid talking on the phone so as not to bother others. It is not screaming in coffees. It is heard. The turn is expected. The smallest is appreciated. Harmony is valued over chaos. The norms are not followed out of fear, but by conviction. That education begins since children, who clean their classrooms and understand that respect is not imposed: it is lived.
Everything works, but not because it is magical. It works because there is structure, norms, habits and discipline. Of course, this also has a cost: it can become demanding, overwhelming, even lonely. The interesting thing for me is not to copy the model, but to understand what principles make something work well and how to adapt them to our reality without losing the human.
And if an entire country can live like this, why not an organization? Why not a company where order is not rigidity, but care? Where simplicity is beauty. Where silence does not feel as a vacuum, but presence.
Maybe the teams would be more respectful. The focus would be more in the process, not only in the result. There would be more peace, order, respect, connection.
In organizations, we often normalize chaos. We repeat that “things are.” Tasks that overlap, urgencies that appear out of nowhere, teams exhausted for not knowing what to expect from the other. No one has time, but everyone has meetings. It is improvised more than it is decided. It reacts more than what is thought.
And so progress is made … but at the expense of wear, avoidable errors, tense ties and talents that go out.
Precisely the Japanese work as a great team, where each person contributes with responsibility and commitment, and they feel that their country is their own company and take care of it.
There I saw how each task, however small or simple, is done with dignity. From whoever delivers a package to whom a coffee serves, everything is done well. Without turns and without exaggeration. With a kindness that surprises. It is the spirit of monozukuri: Do things right because yes, because it matters, because the other deserves it. And I observed details that confirm it: everything is designed to show that the other matters.
And I wondered: Why does this impact me so much? Because in our organizations the opposite is normalized: interruption, the urgency that does not respect the other, the lack of recognition, speaking without listening.
When I return and meet organizations where the human is out of the equation, I confirm how much we need to understand that The detail is culture.
And I find it hard to believe that, still today, there are structures that design their spaces and dynamics without thinking about the people who inhabit them.
How are we going to talk about organizational culture if the human is still the last thing that is considered to make decisions?
It is improvised, it is simulated, it is declared … but it is not designed.
And when it is not designed, It shows: in processes that complicate more than they solve, in meetings without meaning or result, in messages that say “here we prioritize people”, while those people are exhausted and disconnected.
What should be an experience designed to facilitate work, becomes a daily obstacle.
Because many organizations declare to put people in the center, but when one observes the details, what is seen is disorder, patches, decisions made without thinking about the other.
So what if we stop simulating interest in people and we started Design seriously?
Because culture is in the details that are repeated every day. How they receive you. How they look at you. In whether you can think or not. In case they listen to you. In case they take into account. In case you go home with energy or headache.
The detail is also culture.
And no, it’s not about copying everything they do in Japan. But to take what works and adapt it. To rescue principles and lower them to everyday life:
- Really listen.
- Thank what usually ignores.
- Understanding that leading is not controlling, but guiding.
- That giving feedback is not to correct, but invite to improve.
And I don’t talk about large investments. I speak of conscious decisions. They are small gestures, which generate great differences. And it is available to everyone because respect is trained. The order is taught. Beauty is built.
That is why I keep working every day to help create such spaces: where I really are, where people feel comfortable and motivated to stay. Teams that work in tune, with good vibes and real collaboration. Processes that are not only cold steps, but have that care and dedication that make them almost an art.
Of course in Japan not everything is perfect. There is pressure, there is loneliness. There is Karōshi (Death due to excess work). But I also saw that there is talk of that. That there are measures to prevent it. That there is awareness that the commitment taken to the extreme also hurts.
And there I understood that it is not about working in excess or working less. But to live better.
We can transform our teams and companies with simple gestures. And I want to share some concrete actions that, although they seem very small, are also very powerful:
- Use technology to facilitate, not complicate: automate everything you can (shifts, charges, surveys, reminders), but always accompany with a good experience; That is simple, accessible and intuitive.
- Design environments where your team and customers can advance alone, but feel that you are close if they need you.
- Advance your doubts by leaving clear instructions, visual guides or friendly posters.
- Take care of every detail: from the tone of the messages to how a product is delivered or someone is received, so that each interaction leaves the feeling of “I took care of me.”
- Do not bother the other: I kept silent and harmony in the shared spaces.
- Promote order and cleaning establishing specific spaces and schedules to organize and clean it is part of the routine, not an extra task.
- That punctuality is not only efficiency, but a real respect for the time of the other.
- That each interaction, however, is marked by kindness and thanks: those are not only gestures, are values that are lived day by day and build culture.
- I make the everyday work well, without complications.
- Value the authentic, the clear and what really adds.
- Take care of spaces, relationships and processes without overloading.
- Stop doing to do, and begin to make sense.
- That everything be careful, precision and quality.
- Be an example of respect: Greet when you enter and leave, excuse yourself if you make a mistake and be kind, even with strangers.
- Apply radical honesty: how to lose your wallet and return it to you with everything inside, do the right thing even if no one is looking.
- When there is respect and clear agreements, it is not necessary to push or control: each one knows how to move even in chaos or pressure contexts.
The love for well done work is to do each task with dedication and pride, even if it seems simple. The position or role does not matter: each one takes their task very seriously, as a personal pride form.
The effort to help is to be present for the other even if it is not your direct responsibility, because when one wins, they all win. Think about the other rather than oneself. Take care of the details, give value to what others do not see.
That is also leadership. That is also culture. That also transforms.
Today many of these experiences take them with me: in my mentoring, in my work spaces and also in my personal life. Today I choose care. The detail. The calm. Consciousness. And I want that to contagion too.
It is time to humanize leadership and organizations.
As leaders, we have the opportunity – and responsibility – to make it possible.
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