A Trip to Japan
I remember a time back in 1992 when I toured Japan with a team of colleagues from Ford, to learn about Kaizen and how this philosophy was being conducted within the Japanese automotive part manufacturers. Our team would visit auto supplier plants and observe how the employees conducted their work. To say the least, it was mind-blowing. We were enlightened about the Japanese culture and how strongly principles of honor, respect, and humility literally saturated the soul of the Japanese people
The agenda for each day began with breakfast, a bus or train ride to the supplier plant, a short introduction of plant operations by the plant manager, and then a walkthrough the facility observing the workers. We were allowed to get close and ask questions, although no one knew English, and just watched the operator do their work in an extremely quick manner. I thought the pace was way too fast in most cases and could not fathom how an individual would be able to keep the pace for the length of the day, but I was assured they could. We were recording what we saw via note taking and at the close of the plant tours, required to provide our feedback of the processes and the observations we made.
This particular day, I was selected to be the spokesperson for our team. We took turns doing this throughout the tour. There were about 16 English speaking people (our team plus our consultant partners) and 50-60 Japanese workers (including managers and company executives) in the room. In my experience with such large groups, I often heard speakers start with an icebreaker, mainly to help the speaker be at ease but also to lightly engage the audience and warm them up a bit. So, I decided to tell the following story about the Three Envelopes. It goes as follows.
The Parable
Once there was an executive who was feeling the heat from his bosses. His performance was slipping, and he foresaw the day coming when he would be asked to step down or resign his position. That day came and as the departing executive was leaving, he crossed paths with the new incoming executive. He quickly went back to his office and moments later approached his replacement and handed him three sealed envelopes. He said “There will be a day when these will be important for you. You’ll know when. Open these one at a time.”
The new executive took the envelopes and stuffed them in his desk drawer. After about three months, things became a little chaotic and then he remembered the envelopes. Each envelope was numbered. He decided it was time, so he opened envelope #1. He pulled out the slip of paper inside and read the message which said, “Blame everything on your predecessor.” So, he proceedsed to follow that instruction and it works like a charm.
Several more months go by and he begins to feel the heat again. He thinks to himself, the first envelope worked pretty well, so it’s time to open #2. He opens it and it reads “reorganize.”
The Translator
Suddenly, as I am getting caught up in telling the story, someone from the back of the room calls out “Paul-Son. Could I take time to translate the story for the people.” I was a little embarrassed as I completely forgot the audience was Japanese and didn’t understand a word I was saying. They all looked so attentive as I was addressing them. So, I apologized and allowed the interpreter time to get the audience caught up, although I was pretty certain there might something lost in the translation.
The Finale and Lessons Learned
Back to the parable. Well time went by, the “reorganization” confused everyone, and after nine months on the job, the hammer came down again. The new executive decided since the envelopes worked before, why not try it again. He pulls the last envelope out the drawer, opens it and the message reads, “Prepare three envelopes.”
The parable in itself, at least in America, is self-explanatory. I can say with experience I have seen this play out several times in my career. But there is an important lesson I learned in presenting this icebreaker.
First, know your audience. I imagine if the translator actually told the story as I relayed it, the Japanese audience was probably culturally shocked. They would never think that anyone in Japan would act in such a fashion. Although it was intended to be a humorous parable, it is likely they didn’t see the humor in it.
Secondly, take time to pause and check in with your audience while speaking. I thought I was reading their faces correctly, but they were just being respectful to me and letting me speak. You don’t have to visit a foreign country for this happen.
Even icebreakers need to have some connection to your audience, especially if you want them to warm up to you.