[Younger Senior] There is no seniority system at KOMA. Age, years of experience, and gender don't matter. It is not uncommon to see a man in his 30s being scolded by a woman in her 20s, who says, "Hurry up! You're late!" When I was training, I had a senior who was younger than me. He currently runs a furniture workshop and we still have a relationship. He was two years my senior and one year younger than me. At first, the difference in ability was so great that no one would even take me seriously. The work of new employees mainly involves repeating simple tasks that anyone can do. Normally, it wouldn't seem like much fun, but the amount of time you spend there and the skills you gain will be completely different depending on the mindset you have when you approach it. It's about finding fun and fulfillment in it. Time won't solve anything. Some people don't change even after 10 years. The easiest thing to do is compete against yourself in speed. Set a time for every task. The standard is yourself from one time ago. I will definitely surpass it! I will do my best to achieve that. Simply relying on the speed of your body movements and getting used to it will eventually reach a plateau. That's where the real challenge begins. Improve the fundamental way of working. This is repeated hundreds of times a day as part of simple daily tasks. This simple task becomes ingrained in the body through repeated practice, creating the foundation for future work. That's how I completed this period in one year. Before I knew it, I was faster than anyone else at simple tasks. That's when my rivalry with him started. We were both slightly different types of players; I tended to focus on planning and efficiency, while he was the speed king of power plays. When he got into it, there was a tremendous energy that you could really feel the heat. We were always running when we moved around the factory, and even in winter we were drenched in sweat. It's a job where injuries are inevitable. Of course, we both have experience. We never worried about each other, saying things like, "Hey! Are you hurt? That's annoying," but I feel like we were connected on a deeper level. I think we were all connected by our ambition to rise in the world of furniture craftsmen. The other day, I had a drink with him for the first time in a while. As we talked about those memories and our future plans, we started to get drunk. "I still don't think I've lost to you!" he suddenly said. "I'm not losing either! By the way, weren't you a former senior?" I asked. "There's no such thing as a former senior! A senior is a senior!" "I was the first one to become independent! I'm the senior now!" The reason we can laugh at such pointless exchanges is because we know that we have both been working seriously at the same job as furniture makers for a long time. The encounter itself, where people of the same age, with the same aspirations, can compete with each other at the same time and in the same place, is priceless. They are not best friends. They are friends who can respect each other. We don't help each other with anything specific, but the fact that we are still persevering and continuing to do our best is always a source of support. I imagine that KOMA will have many such relationships in 10 years, and I always smile as I watch their interactions.
