continued from Part1
In March, with the completion of my second master’s degree, I have counted 10 years of my life working in aquariums. Here I would like to look back on what I have been working on and organize what I would like to work on in the future.
In the second part, I will write about how to engage in the aquarium industry and about the ideas required there.
Mixed Martial Arts
There are many aquariums and zoos where volunteer staff are active in Japan, and as I mentioned in the previous part, they need the know-how to make their organizations perform organically as a community. However, it is common for aquarium keepers and curators not to have the technical knowledge in such different fields because they are professionals for animals and plants. Moreover, since aquariums, like other companies, are organizations running businesses, they are “mixed martial arts” that can only be realized by integrating expertise in various fields, such as breeding, business administration, human resource management, exhibit design, information technology, and product sales. All aquariums are operating their business with limited human and financial resources while utilizing their various specialties with all their intelligence and wisdom.
“Why did not you try to become an aquarium keeper?” to which I am sometimes asked, as I have been so much into aquariums for the past 10 years. Indeed, it may be possible for me, with my enthusiasm, to become a keeper as a professional in creatures from now on. But rather than that, I believe that I would be able to make a more significant contribution to aquariums by utilizing my other competitive abilities, which I already possess.
The IT field is one of my significant advantages, since I have loved mathematics initially and once aspired to become a computer science teacher in high school, although I failed that goal and went to work at a system integrator company. As is usual, my affiliation is a volunteer team with many elderly members, so the utilization of digital technology has been an issue for many years, and it is one of the areas that we are facing more difficulties with under the Corona disaster. The system for recording and aggregating the activities of our members for such a group was the first system I had ever created, including in my profession. At first, it was small and simple at the level of EUC (end-user computing), but in order to keep up with the changing times, I let go of the first system, which was like my own child; while reviewing our operations, and now it is running as a cloud-based system. I have been facing the question, “What is a good system?” while taking into account the viewpoints of all users. Although small in scale, I have been given the opportunity to experience the process of DX (Digital Transformation). The experience of collaboration without any ties with members of the same industry, who are in competition with each other in their primary professions, has been very priceless.
Accordingly, it was natural that I, who had gained experience in community management as well as IT, would shift my focus to the areas of consulting and business administration. In other words, it was a predetermined choice for me to have a parallel career when I had begun to be involved in aquariums while studying physics and mathematics.
Fighting Aquariums
In the process of studying community management, I have become acquainted with people in various NPOs and social enterprises. Then, I became interested not only in how to develop a volunteer organization and remain within the framework of the Tokyo Sea Life Park but also in the entire aquarium industry in Japan. In other words, in order to promote more educational activities in the numerous Japanese aquariums, I had to inevitably face the current situation in which Japanese aquariums and zoos, especially in the rural areas, are fighting to provide their visitors with at least one “learning experience” despite operating with too low admission fees.
As I had mentioned in my article three years ago, “Three years from now, when I will be 33 years old, I would like to achieve some kind of result,” I have decided to compose a thesis in the MBA program in order to demonstrate some kind of presence to the aquarium industry by utilizing my developed competencies. Since collaborations with external stakeholders are mandatory for aquariums, which are required to perform “mixed martial arts” with minimal management resources, I have recognized the importance of research with a focus on inter-organizational collaboration.
It seemed like an extraordinary coincidence that I had just found out that a researcher of social innovation was working at Tokyo Metropolitan University, my home institution, and also that I actually had the opportunity to see the professor, who was much more knowledgeable about fish than I was. The people at each of the aquariums I visited were also very supportive in responding to my enthusiasm, despite my sudden approach, and all of them provided me with many thought-provoking and essential perspectives. Furthermore, with the encouraging advice of the professor who had taken me to Monterey Bay Aquarium, I was able to finalize a thesis as my comprehensive summary of all that I had seen in the 3,000 hours (on record) which I had invested as a volunteer over the past 10 years.
Furthermore, I consider it an exquisite experience to have participated for a year in a social venture NGO, with my background in education and community management, at the same time that I have entered the MBA program at Tokyo Metropolitan University. I had the opportunity to experience the difficulties of managing a new start-up, as well as a fresh perspective on the world by the so-called “Generation Z.” I would never have been able to write about some parts of my thesis without this experience.
Now I have a new “business card” for the aquarium industry as the unquestionable result of my ambition of three years ago. I am truly grateful. I will write a separate, more detailed article about my reflection on the MBA.
Beliefs of Technology Professionals
It was not always a smooth sailing decade for me by any means. But during this period, I have clearly articulated what I hope to keep most important in my life.
That is “time accumulation.” Although it is not enough to simply say that the years of experience are essential, and it is necessary that they contain real quality, we must not also underestimate also the value of long experience. Just as repairing a complicated machine such as a watch, even if the visible hourly fee for the crafting is minimal, it is impossible to detect the intuitive point at only a glance without endless experience to sharpen the professional craftsman’s “eye” in the background. This is the so-called “System 1” mode of thinking which is proposed in the dual-process theory of psychology. In the case of aquarium keepers, they can notice the slightest changes in the animals only with their “eye,” which can be refined only by accumulating daily activities of “observing animals” so that they can maintain the exhibits, which are the fundamental of the aquarium system. Therefore, I do not mean to neglect quality, but quantity itself is one of the significant assets for a technologist who produces high-quality products.
II think it is because I have grown up in the technical field of IT system development as my primary profession that I became even more interested in the aquarium system, which is not possible without the collective wisdom of experts in various fields, and I always have more respect for the professionalism of all the specialties involved in that system even more than other people. It does not matter whether the field or technology is very sophisticated or not. Whatever we have accumulated experiences by keeping our feet on the ground while always thinking and being creative to provide the best output will constitute our core competence which nobody else can replicate.
Perhaps many Japanese who have been through the battle of entrance examinations could understand this kind of respect with a certain firsthand sense. For example, in mathematics, if you practice calculation hard enough, you will become able to do by heart even complicated calculations such as integrals. I think it is imprinted in their souls, for people who have done that kind of training without escaping, no matter in any field. So for me, these 3,000 hours are the foundation for everything to create something new in the next decade.
And, of course, it is essential for the managers to produce and make effective use of such technical skills. But technical experts are not just pawns for the company. I think some genius-skinned managers who have acquired business techniques by being taught by others or by discovering them through their instinctive senses often fall into this very prevalent misconception…… Although it is true that the process of “studying business administration” at business schools is undoubtedly admirable, however, managers also have to be living and breathing people who are professionals in “finding and maximizing the talents of employees and increasing the overall profits and gaining competitive advantages of the company.” To understand and execute this properly is, ultimately, the I of D&I (Diversity & Inclusion), is not it? This is also one of the essentials that I reached in my MBA program.
Toward the Next Decade
As times change really swiftly, words such as “Generation Z,” “D&I,” and “DX,” which had been new only a few years ago, have already become too trendy to be considered buzzwords. In this epoch, my first encounter with aquariums has allowed me to build a parallel career naturally. In my recent presentations, I often introduce myself by describing the fields in which I have worked as a parallel career, like the leaves of a clover, increasing the number from four to five. While people often talk about the MBA program as the training to become a generalist, my goal is not to become so but rather to become a multi-specialist.
Today, when I recognize the significance of various coincidental “encounters,” I realize that the underlying backbone of my first master’s degree, in which I studied complex systems, is almost forming the basis of my way of thinking. The outcome of everything is inevitable, and the collective time will be reflected in the most appropriate consequences. Therefore, I do not have to consider “making what I do right” at all, and that is instead an incredible arrogance. So I have begun to think about living my life more relaxed and accepting the harshness of nature with all of my body and soul.
As for my life stage, after 2 years (age 35), 5 years (age 38), 7 years (age 40), and 10 years (age 43) are each major milestone, and I have already embarked on running toward my next goal. I would appreciate your kind support and encouragement in the future.
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