I read 『起業の天才！―江副浩正　８兆円企業リクルートをつくった男』大西康之（著） (“Genius of Entrepreneurship! Hiromasa Ezoe: The Man Who Created the 8 Trillion Yen Company Recruit” by Yasuyuki Onishi), so I’ll share the insights I gained from the book.

Background

Below are quotes and notes from the parts that left an impression on me.

Chapter 4: Crush "Japanese-Style Management"

"Mr. Ezoe has an opinion about 'what he wants to do.' But if he says it himself, it becomes a command-and-obedience relationship. So he persistently asks, 'What do you want to do?' At first, employees say ridiculous things, but Mr. Ezoe guides them by saying 'And then?' and 'But there's also this perspective, right?' Eventually, employees reach the correct answer that Mr. Ezoe was thinking of, or even more wonderful ideas."

Listening skills that avoid creating a command-and-obedience relationship.

Once employees have expressed their opinions in front of the president, they can no longer back down. This is how Ezoe transforms employees who were just "critics" full of complaints and dissatisfaction into "stakeholders."

Transform critics into stakeholders.

"The company has a corporate culture that represents intrinsic motivation and PSM (Prosocial Motivation = other-oriented motivation). One is the so-called 'What do you want to do?' culture. At Recruit, there's a culture of thoroughly pursuing the fundamental question of 'What do I really want to do?' when employees take on new initiatives and challenges. This is truly the enlightenment of intrinsic motivation." (From "World Standard Management Theory" by Diamond Inc.)

“What do you want to do?” culture.

While extrinsic motivation is motivation through rewards and promotions, intrinsic motivation is pure motivation that wells up from within, such as "wanting to enjoy" or "wanting to do." PSM refers to standing from others' perspectives and being motivated to contribute to others, such as "standing from the customer's perspective" or "standing from subordinates' perspectives." Iriyama cites the synergistic effect of intrinsic motivation and PSM as conditions for talent-producing companies.

Intrinsic motivation × PSM.

Chapter 9: Into the Sea of Information - ALL HANDS ON DECK!

During recruitment season, Tominaga would rent the second floor of a sushi restaurant in front of Tokyo University's Akamon gate for three months. When he caught promising engineering students, he would take them to the tatami room. There, Recruit's top salesmen would be waiting.

Impressive recruiting tactics.

When they found East Asians on Harvard or MIT campuses, they would call out "Konnichiwa~" in Japanese. Chinese and Korean people wouldn't respond, but Japanese people who heard Japanese on foreign campuses would always react with "Huh?" They would immediately start conversations asking "Which company are you from?" and get closer by treating them to drinks and food.

Creative approach to finding Japanese talent abroad.

Chapter 14: "You guys, become more shady!"

While many Japanese companies still belong to "Red" or "Amber," Ezoe's "all employees are managers philosophy" was "Teal" from 50 years ago.

Recruit was a pioneer of Teal organizations.

That’s all from the Gemba regarding wanting to create an 8 trillion yen company.