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Category: Japanese culture

Life in Japan: Wrap it up! – Value or Waste?

I love living in Japan and having this opportunity to learn about a new culture and language. I’ve tried to retain my “outsider’s perspective” while

February 11, 2016 10 Comments

“Live less out of habit and more out of intent” – Intentions for 2016

I recently saw the quote “Life less out of habit and more out of intent” (source unknown) and it really resonated with me, especially as I

January 21, 2016 23 Comments

Life in Japan: Visual and audible management to guide everyday life

One of tenets of Lean and the Toyota Production System “visual management”: making things (work, processes, status, etc.) clearly visible (or audible) to the status

January 15, 2016 5 Comments

Life in Japan: Where cash is king (or rather the shogun)

Here is another installment in my series of posts about “Life in Japan”. Paper and coins rule in Japan One of the surprising things about moving

January 12, 2016 12 Comments

Year-end Review: Reflections on 1 year in Japan

It’s hard to believe that I moved to Japan exactly 12 months ago this week. The time has flown by quickly and I have enjoyed

January 5, 2016 4 Comments

Life in Japan: Where clean is beautiful, but 5S is still hard

This past weekend I took the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Level 5) and saw this sign posted in the bathroom that made me laugh. It was a

December 8, 2015 14 Comments

Life in Japan – contradictions and contrasts

I’ve been writing a lot about leadership, business and healthcare in Japan, but what about the elements of living here that might underlie some of

December 3, 2015 11 Comments

Top reflections from recent Japanese business travel and conferences

The past two weeks were full of many learning and connecting opportunities. I’ve had several meetings with interesting Japanese business people and thought leaders to discuss innovation,

November 10, 2015 9 Comments

“Tree Ring Management”: Take the Long View

On a recent trans-Pacific flight, I read read a book written by a Japanese business leader named Hiroshi Tsukakoshi called “Tree Ring Management: Take the

October 30, 2015 7 Comments

Mid-year review: reflections from 6 months in Japan

Six months ago exactly, my family arrived in Japan on an 18-24 month assignment. On our first morning in Tokyo, I wrote my first blog

July 10, 2015 6 Comments

Japan travel – Efficiencies inside and outside the train station

I’ve been spending a lot of time traveling on the Shinkansen and other trains for gemba visits to Japanese organizations and with my family on

July 7, 2015 8 Comments

Intention and the art of meishi (business card) exchange

When I had my meishi (business cards) made a few months ago, I chose the kanji characters for the word “Intention” as my logo. There

June 23, 2015 10 Comments

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Category: Japanese culture

Life in Japan: Wrap it up! – Value or Waste?

“Live less out of habit and more out of intent” – Intentions for 2016

Life in Japan: Visual and audible management to guide everyday life

Life in Japan: Where cash is king (or rather the shogun)

Year-end Review: Reflections on 1 year in Japan

Life in Japan: Where clean is beautiful, but 5S is still hard

Life in Japan – contradictions and contrasts

Top reflections from recent Japanese business travel and conferences

“Tree Ring Management”: Take the Long View

Mid-year review: reflections from 6 months in Japan

Japan travel – Efficiencies inside and outside the train station

Intention and the art of meishi (business card) exchange

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