When you stand on a factory line, you can see clearly who fits the work and who does not.
The one with fast hands. The one with sharp eyes. The one who is good at setting up the work.
It is a place where what you can do shows up before what you like does.
When I heard a story about a professional tennis player, I remembered that.
What He Loved Was Soccer
That player loved soccer from the start, and it seems he wanted to be a soccer player.
But he could not get good at it.
With no other choice, he switched to tennis. Because he was good at tennis.
At first it was “no other choice.”
Still, in tennis he had confidence, and he went on to become a pro.
Liking something and being good at it are two different things.
I Was at a Company That Did Not Teach
The company I joined when I was young had a president who left people alone.
“Learn by watching me.” “Do it yourself.” That air hung over the whole place.
Nobody teaches you, so you do not grow.
You do not grow, so you do not gain confidence either.
I decided, “I cannot grow if I stay here,” and I quit.
People Do Not Grow Without a System
In manufacturing, there is a system for solving problems as a team.
A boss gives his people a problem, and has them talk it over together and clear it up.
If the problem is solved, the company makes money too. The people under him learn to think, and they get closer to the boss.
People grow because there is a system.
Leaving people alone is not “helping them stand on their own.” It is just plain lazy. That is all it is.
But at the workplace where I was, there was no trace of any such system.
I kept needling my section chief about it. For years. Nothing changed.
I found out later that the section chief was uneasy with the department head, so he could not act.
They say that when someone went straight to the department head, it went through right away, and the transfer was approved.
What? Then all I had to do was go to him from the start.
Nobody told me how that worked.
Way too late now.
I noticed it only after 40 years. I was on the factory floor for 40 years. Whether I fit that work, I still do not know. Close to retirement, they finally moved me to a different job. Only then did I think for the first time, oh, this might be a little better. It took me close to 40 years to get just that.
Maybe I Was the Shallow One
I felt I was not growing, and I quit. Was that decision right? I think about it now.
Back then, did I have the eyes to see what suited me and what did not? I doubt it. Was the reason I felt I was not growing really about what suited me? Or was the only problem a workplace with no system? When I was young, I did not have the head to think about those two things separately.
On the other hand, you can stay in the same place for 40 years and still end up not knowing if the work suits you. Was I shallow to leave early, or was it worse to drift along the whole time? I cannot say for sure either way, and that is a pain too.
Maybe That Is Just How It Goes
Liking something and being good at it are different. Even if you understand that, if nobody gives you even a chance to notice what you are good at, it goes nowhere.
That pro player chose what he was good at and became a pro.
I left a place where I was not growing.
Which answer was right, I will not know for a while.
Oh well. That is how life is, I guess.
Other things I have written about my working life in Japan:
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