273 The Relaxing Leader

<p style="font-weight: 400;">In 2017 METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and industry), and the peak industry bodies the Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and industry launched their Premium Friday campaign, encouraging firms to allow their workers to depart early on the last Friday of each month.  Approximately 70% of the Japanese economy is based on domestic consumption and the idea is to give consumers more time to consume, thus stimulating the economy.  All good stuff, although it hasn’t really worked but there is a deeper problem for companies than more consuming.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Parkinson’s law that “work expands to fill the time available for its completion” fits Japan perfectly.  The very long hours spent in work in Japan are producing work at a relatively glacial pace.  There is a surprisingly slow rhythm here in white collar work.  If you want to see work being done at a fast clip, then look at the manufacturer’s factories and the construction industry. </p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Big city office workers though are a different breed.  There was some respite thanks to remote work, but people are flooding back to the office, so the same old problems are still there. They spend long hours commuting during the peak times.  Why?  They need to live far away to have affordable accommodation and they can’t get up any earlier to miss the crowds, because they are staying up so late every evening. </p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">Now we have a constant rhythm in operation.  Go to bed late, get up without enough sleep, so automatically feel tired, struggle through the morning commute and arrive at the office exhausted.  Leave the office very late every evening.  Repeat every working day of your entire miserable working life.</p> <p style="font-weight: 400;">This is the brain era.  We have the fastest communication technology in history available to us. We have total connectivity, so we are plugged into everything.  Speed and mental sharpness should be our f