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にほんブログ村
Hello there, this is President Yasui, running a one-man company mainly engaged in inspections of high-pressure gas facilities.
Today marks the start of November—and before we know it, there are only two months left in the year.
In the LPG inspection industry, this season typically leads into a quiet period.
But every year, I can’t help but wonder: Is that really okay to just accept as it is?
Wouldn’t it be better if we could balance sales and profits more evenly throughout the year?
Today, I want to talk a bit about a question that’s been on my mind:
“Who are you really working for?”
I recently heard something from someone I know who works for a large corporation—a case of what you might call corporate disease.
Apparently, due to transfers and internal reassignments, the company now has a surprisingly large number of clerical workers.
When I heard that, I found myself questioning what was really going on.
Workers generally fall into two categories: blue-collar—those doing manual labor, and white-collar—those in office or administrative roles.
Within the white-collar group, there are actually two main types of work: routine (standardized) and creative.
So, there are essentially three ways of working: manual labor, routine clerical work, and creative or strategic work.
You might already sense where I’m going with this.
I do understand the need for a certain number of white-collar workers.
Salespeople who develop new business, or planners who create new ideas—these are key positions in any modern company.
A company with such people is undeniably strong.
The real problem arises when there are too many people doing routine clerical work.
It starts to resemble Japan’s current social structure, where a shrinking number of working-age people support a growing elderly population living off pensions.
Routine tasks, by their nature, rarely generate direct value.
Many times, they exist simply to create more work for the sake of work, or to look busy.
You end up with unnecessary paperwork, or documents that serve no real purpose.
Sometimes, the clerical department even pushes new documentation burdens onto the field staff.
If such work is genuinely necessary, that’s fine.
But in most cases, it really isn’t.
And worst of all—it creates a divide between blue-collar and white-collar workers.
That’s just wrong, isn’t it?
Ultimately, it’s the blue-collar workers and the creative white-collar workers who generate a company’s true value.
That’s something everyone needs to understand.
Routine clerical staff play a supporting role.
That doesn’t mean they’re worthless—it just means their function within the company is to assist.
A company is a team.
It reaches its full potential only when everyone moves together toward a shared goal.
And that goal is simple:
To provide value to society through your work.
When that purpose isn’t shared, it’s easy for the team to start heading in the wrong direction.
It’s like setting out on a journey without a compass to guide you.
As a one-man president, I may not be one to talk—but in today’s world, few companies can afford to carry unnecessary weight.
Once you put on excess fat, it takes far more effort to shed it than it did to gain it.
So before that happens—
Why not take a moment to check which direction you’re really facing in your work?
Thank you, as always, for reading to the end.
See you next time!
