It may be a bit of an exaggeration to call it an in-house design competition, but we tried something similar in a simple way. It is a sideshow that takes place during the first hour of a regular monthly drinking party, starting with the toast. The rules are that each person must submit one idea on a plain A4 sheet of paper. Presentation time is 3 minutes per person. The winner will receive a prize of 10,000 yen. The store manager will decide on a theme that even newcomers can participate in, based on the equipment and accessories used at the KOMA shop, and will then conduct the judging. The aim is to create excitement in a way similar to Ogiri (a Japanese comedy show). This time it's an umbrella stand. Even if it's just shop equipment, I'd like to make a few and sell them. In short, they want to put a price on it. There is a fundamental difference between professionals and hobbyists. When this happens, it suddenly becomes difficult to manufacture things. I was unsure about my role as boss, but for the first episode I decided to show a "maddening way to win." The idea was to show how seriously the "people who come to win" in the world are trying to crush you, and to make future KOMA-1GPs even more exciting, so that this could become a benchmark for serious competition, even if it's half-joking. This time, the proposal is to predict the ideas that everyone will come up with, rationalize them one by one, and eliminate them by a process of elimination. The theme, after all, is annoying ways to win. First, consider the conditions. It's an umbrella stand. There is also the possibility of outdoor use, and wood does not get along well with water to begin with. Unlike chairs, it is not possible to clearly differentiate products in terms of comfort. There is a high possibility of deterioration, so assembling or joining the parts is not recommended. It is also not recommended to use boards as there is a high possibility of them warping, cracking, or becoming moldy. Even if you take the time and effort to create a good product, it will quickly deteriorate and become the subject of complaints. Furthermore, since this is not a product that KOMA sells in large quantities, it is not acceptable to hold inventory or outsource the use of other materials such as iron. Coating with paint is not something that KOMA does. In this case, the umbrella stand made by KOMA would not work. It's a product that's high risk in every respect and not suitable for us in the first place. Each one was interesting, but as expected, he came up with a straightforward proposal: a wooden umbrella stand. Now all of the ideas that everyone has come up with are no good. Now the real action begins. Oh, my presentation was the last one. This is a bit off topic, but There are various reasons for this, such as the characteristics of the material or budget, but it is not uncommon for a design to not come to fruition, as in this case. In such cases, for example, thinking of the design as a "tool to sit on" rather than a "chair" can broaden your horizons and free up your imagination without being too rigid. It would be risky for us to make this umbrella stand out of wood, but if it's just a tool for holding umbrellas, there are plenty of possibilities. So, "we don't make umbrella stands themselves." Simply attach the wooden protrusion to the wall using double-sided tape for exterior walls and then hang the handle of the umbrella on it. There is no kumite or splicing, so it won't break. Because the item is small, there is less risk of it becoming distorted or cracking. They're cheap and can be replaced after a few years if they break down. There is no inventory risk as we can simply respond to customer orders for the dimensions and shapes they require. All risks can be avoided. The image I have is something like this. (We will provide more details after we have installed it at KOMAshop.) In any case, the judge will be Kumi, the manager of KOMAshop. But the answer is already clear. For sellers, they absolutely want to avoid any risks to quality, such as deterioration. We also want to avoid inventory risk for items that are not our core products. The young men seemed disappointed, saying, "Eh, that's all? I thought about it so hard!" "I've thought about this countless times! LOL" This is simply a difference in experience. Have you ever heard of the 10,000 hour rule? This is the minimum amount of time needed to develop talent. 8-10 hours a day for about 3 years. It seems that unless you can clear this minimum standard, no talent will blossom. In just three years? I think that's only for people who are extremely talented. In my case it's been 18 years. I think I've put in a solid 60,000 hours, but I've only managed to get to that level, and so far it doesn't seem like my talent has blossomed. When I first started my training, the masters would often tell me, "You don't have any talent, so you'd be better off doing something else," and I can see why they were right. But if you have the determination to keep going, you can make a living doing what you love. That's what I've learned over the past 18 years. However, my thoughts have remained the same from the beginning: "I want to be able to make good furniture." The winning prize of 10,000 yen "Mr. Matsuoka, you're spending too much on company expenses!" With one word from Mai Takeuchi, it was confiscated before it even reached my wallet. The theme for next month's KOMA-1GP will apparently be "trash can." I'm going to try to win again. The photo shows Sato's 21st birthday party, which was held at the same time as the KOMA-1GP. Every time, everyone puts a lot of effort into the birthday presents they give. This time we have jackets, bags, helmets, interior accessories, oil lighters, and more. As you can see in the photo, it's quite luxurious. So I worry a lot, trying not to let him know, asking questions like, "What should we do? Have you decided yet?" It's a fun event for both the recipients and the people choosing the gifts, so I hope to continue it in moderation in the future. It would be too much to call it as "the design competition in the firm", while we tried to conduct concisely something like that. It has been done as one hour opening performance just after the toast of the monthly drinking party. The rule is defined as the one shot competition one idea per person presented in A4 size paper. 3 minutes are allowed for a person to present his/her idea. The winner's prize is JPY10,000. The store manager decides theme, which even new joiners would be able to participate including equipments in KOMA shop and small articles, and evaluates presentations. It is aiming to be fun something like Japanese Oogiri game. The them this time is "the umbrella stand". It would be one of equipment of KOMA shop, however, "we would like to make it as sellable products with making several inver tories." In other words, we would like to price them. This makes fundamental difference between works made by professionals and hobby for amateurs. Then, it suddenly make difficult to manufacture the work. I had been dwelling how to participate it as the master of the factory, I made up my mind to demonstrate "how to win disgusting others" for the first time. I took this approach showing the standard of partially serious at the same time partially pleasure so that KOMA-1 GP completions to become exiting events in the future demonstrating how those who take results seriously try to win. With expectations of ideas employees are supposed to make, I planned to disprove competitors' presentations and exclude them. The theme is winning disgusting competitors. Thinking of conditions first. The umbrella stand. It may be used outside and woods may not be good fit to water. Unlike chairs which can be relatively easily differentiated each others through comfort, it would be difficult to differentiate the umbrella stand. Given high possibility for the deterioration, it would not be good to process in assembling and/or joining. Given high possibility for distortions, cracks, and mold, wooden board would not be good. Even when high quality products are made with lengthy of time spent, it would be subject to claims due to deterioration before long. Also, given the expectation to sell small number of sales, it would not be good to have large number of the inventory as well as materials utilizing other than woods through outsourcing a part of the process. It would not be KOMA products to be coated with paint. Considering above, the umbrella stand would not be executable in KOMA. Given higher risks from various angles, it would not be suitable product in KOMA. Each presentation was interesting, while as expected, each was presentation just straight of the umbrella stand. So, none of the idea won the competition. So, here goes the main part. The last presenter was me. Let me slightly deviate from the main topic, it would not be rare for some design products to executable due to various reasons including features of materials, budgets, etc. Under such circumstances, depending on situations, we may be able to think outside the box, for example, designing "tools for sitting" instead of chairs. This time, the umbrella stand would be risky for KOMA to make from woods, however, there are many possibilities as "tools for placing umbrellas". So, "I would not like to make the umbrella stand itself." Adhering a protuberance with double-sided tape for the exterior wall of houses, then, just hanging the handle of the umbrella. It would not be broken without assembles and joints. Given small size, there is minimal risks for distortions or cracks. Due to its lower price, it can be replaced when it will no longer perform as expected. There would not be any inventory risks because it will be manufactured by clients' orders. Any sort or risks would be avoided. It would be something like the picture below. (it will be shown after it is adhering to KOMA shop) Anyway, the judge is the store manager of the KOMA shop, Kumi-san. However, her judge is obvious. For sellers, risks for quality including aged deteriorations need to be avoided as much as possible. Also, inventory risks of no-core products may need to be avoided. Younger employees seemed to be disappointed with the result saying, "What? That is it? I seriously thought it through!" "This idea is invented after several times trials!" It would be just simply different in experiences. I heard about the law of 10,000 hours. It would be the minimum amount of time to bloom talents. It would take three years when one spends on the item 8 to 10 hours a day. It seems that any talent cannot be bloomed unless one spends on the subject at least this minimum length of time. Does it take only 3 years? It would be applicable for extremely gifted person. I have spent 18 years. I have spent fully 60,000 hours in making furnitures and my capability seems to have grown up accordingly, however, I have not realized any blooming of talent. When I started training, masters frequently told me "you would be better to find other occupations without any talent observed.", which seems to be true. However, you would be able to make your life on what you would like to devote if you have guts to continue it. I have realized it in 18 years. I have still kept hoping " I would like to make good furniture." from the beginning to the present. JPY10,000 as winning prize was confiscated before put into my wallet with Mai-chan's comment "Matsuoka-san has spent too much company expenses!" The theme of KOMA-1 GP next month would be "Trash Box". I would like to win seriously. The picture was taken at the birthday party of Sato in his 21 years old which was held just after the KOMA-1 GP. Members have been seriously thinking through what kinds of gifts for each birthday party. This time, gifts are jacket, bag, helmet, interior goods, oil lighter, etc. As shown in the picture, they are gorgeous. So, we are thinking through it exchanging ideas keeping it secret to the celebratee. It would be fun for both celebrators and celebratees, thus, I would like to continue it rightly.
