Tokyo and tech through the eyes of a split pea

between a rock and a hard place

Imagine an executive, constrained by fiduciary duty, who knows that a soon-to-be-laid-off colleague is about to buy an expensive house. Should he warn his friend?

What do you think? I found myself in such a situation this afternoon with 3 Japanese managers on one side of a meeting table and an American consultant and myself on the other. Months of preparation had been put into creating a growth strategy, and two presentations to “top management” later there is still no clear message on how they wish us to procede. We peppered them with questions, each answer a few words shorter than the one before. Eventually it was just a blank stare and a sigh.

The analogy places myself and the consultant as the “soon-to-be-laid-off colleague” of course, but in this situation we have at least an inkling of what is going on. There is important information that is not being shared, perhaps importantly so. But all this inaction and vagueness simply wastes everyone’s time.

When an employee must inevitably be asked to leave, the sooner you tell them, the greater the favor you’re doing for them. No? Of course, being a permanent employee in a Japanese company means the chances of being laid-off are close to zero. Unfortunately with so much difficulty instituting change, that also means the profits will be close to zero too.