The Times They Are A-Changin’

July 13

Today is a big day in the office here. There was a big meeting to announce the “retirement” of the group president here and his replacement by a non-Japanese-speaking Australian! I had heard about this last week and thought it was well known within the company, but that was not the case. Right before the meeting, the translator AE said that there were many rumors about what the meeting was for. He realized I knew something and asked, “Who’s getting fired?” I didn’t have the heart to tell him.

Both the new president and the head of the worldwide company came and gave presentations to the company. They are both sales guys who pepper their speech with Who Moved My Cheese-isms like “feed the eagle” and “paradigm shift.” Unfortunately, most of their rib-ticklers were lost on the Japanese who sat in stony silence throughout the 90-minute program. The translator AE was, of course, called on to translate the presentations. The poor kid was as white as a sheet. Afterward, I congratulated him on his skills. He looked at his shoes and said, “That shouldn’t have been me.”

To clarify, I think this is actually a great thing for this company. The new guy is smart and accomplished and has loads of experience in Asia. He seems like a good guy; funny and direct. Japan is a tough market, but it’s changing and the company needs to change with it. Also, the global organization is becoming stronger and more, well, global. It’s just hard watching these people struggle with the uncertainty of how this is going to affect their jobs and their lives. I have no idea how or if the other key managers will be affected. We’ll wait and see.

On the upside, there’s another “Welcome Drinks” party tonight. This time it’s at a hotel! Woo Hoo!! I’m going to try and take more pictures and update later.