A Modern Society that Demands Speediness - Confusion while staring at a workplace where no one should be sluggish

“Tara Tara Shitenja Nē Yo (Just Don’t be Sluggish)” is the name of a snack that became famous when Japanese professional golfer Hinako Shibuno said it was her favorite snack. What a bold name for a snack! When I first heard it, for a moment I couldn’t believe my ears but it was true. And Shibuno breezed through one hole after another at high speed while happily enjoying this snack. The result was a victory in the British Open, which is still fresh in my mind.

Speediness is not only required in sports, but it’s required in any professional situation. Especially these days when digital transformation is a hot topic, information from all over the world can reach you in an instant, so if you can’t quickly match the pace with others exchanging information, make decisions and execute them quickly, you will not be able to keep up with the rest of the world. Therefore, I always try to quickly respond to everything.

Recently, however, I’m noticing that more and more of my employees seem to lack speediness. In other words, they seem to lack a feeling of pressure, or perhaps less staff members try to finish tasks at once or care about how they can process things more quickly.

Today, as AI has been implemented more and more, time pressure is something we left in the past, and maybe people just want to enjoy life and relax while leaving the hard work to AI and robots? Anyway, I can imagine a scenario in my mind where I worked hard to raise the morale of my army and lead them into the enemy’s territory, but then I look back only to realize that my soldiers are walking slowly far behind me... That’s so sad.

Thinking about this kind of thing itself may be a sign that I am getting old. If I have time to complain, then I should just say to myself, “Don’t be so sluggish!” I should just quickly finish my work and go out for a drink! Ah, I always fantasize about my employees completing their tasks at full speed and the team working to achieve goals as one, but I guess that I am just talking in my sleep?