OUTPUTS, NOT INPUTS
“Good morning Howden-san. Would you like tea?”
I am in Tokyo. I left Boston in the US on Saturday morning, flew west for 24 hours, arrived Tokyo Monday evening (international date line involved), and I am now in the office of Mr Iwai of Mitsui. It’s Tuesday morning. I think. I’m really not quite sure.
Tea having been ceremoniously served, our conversation continues.
“Do you have a busy week planned Howden-san? is there anything I can do for you?”.
Answers. “Yes” (not entirely true). And “Yes please” (very true).
I need Mr Iwai to talk with his colleagues and agree to a particular proposition around a mutual investment we are hoping to make in Scotland. “We” being his company, Mitsui, and the company I am working for at the time, Zeneca.
“Leave it with me” says Mr Iwai. “Come back and see me on Friday”.
And so, refreshed by the tea, I spend the rest of the day (and much of the week it has to be said) enjoying Tokyo’s parks, museums, galleries, food, and actually taking in the occasional (very taxing…) business meeting.
So now it’s Friday morning. Back in Mr Iwai’s office. More tea.
“How was your week Howden-san?”
I mutter things about “productive”, “useful”, “enjoyable”. But I really want to know if there’s an answer to the proposition I made on Tuesday morning.
“I have good news Howden-san”, says Mr Iwai. “We say yes”.
And so I head to the airport, catch the Friday afternoon flight back east to Boston, arrive home 24 hours later on Friday evening (international date line again), and on Monday morning call my boss in the UK.
“I have to tell you Howard” I say to my boss “that I spent most of last week wandering around Tokyo. But Mitsui said yes”.
“That’s commerce” says Howard. “Well done”.
I tell this story with clients a lot, because it makes the clear distinction between outputs and inputs.
We can easily mistake busyness for effectiveness.
We say yes, when we should say no. We go on committees when we shouldn’t. We cram our diaries with meetings to which we actually make little contribution. And we fail to set aside time for those things to which we can make our biggest contribution.
That’s the key. Where do I make my biggest contribution? Now go and do that.
If you do visit Tokyo, I can recommend a long list of parks, museums and art galleries to visit. The food, by the way, is amazing!
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