Yes!!!! I know I talk/write about Japan a little too much... but since I'm starting to write again I want to start with something I know and I keep learning about. Please don't hate me and learn about this wonderful country! You will be thankful.
So, you need to watch this video first:
Amazing, right? I guess there are plenty of lessons to learn from this... and also you can watch it just as a great 9 minute entertaiment video.
The first thing that came to my mind was that all of them were exactly the same, those students seem like young business men preparing to hit Tokyo streets and work all day at offices. This sounds exactly as a mental model, but I need to be honest and tell you that was the first thing that showed up on my mind. All of them with suits, going in the same direction, actually using the exactly same tie!! In Mexico, there would be an intelligent mom trying to make her son/daughter the spotlight. How can she do that?? Maybe with a lovely ribbon, or a tie with another color, even blue color shoes instead of black.
Let's think about this for a minute. Is it bad to try to distinguish from a group of people? In my country, that's what you need to do in order to get a scholarship, a job, even to get friends. When kids go to a parade, they never look the same even if they were asked to wear the same custome. In Japan, and in this particular video, students do not try to be the spotlight INDIVIDUALLY, that is the MAIN difference. Here they work as a team and make something extraordinary with precision and discipline. Would it look the same if one of the leaders came out with a red tie?? Would it has the same impact if some of the students were not using the black outfit?? I do not think so. It is amazing beacuse they act as one, and at the same time, as a group.
I'm not saying it is bad to distinguish from people, and of course I'm not saying it is bad to act as one with someone else. My point is: it always depends on what you are focusing about. In my particular point of view, in Mexico we MUST learn to work in teams, to work with other people for the good of every single person and not just our own.
The second thing that came to my mind has everything to do with discipline. I wonder how many days, weeks, months, they had to practice to start looking as they do now. They had to be persistance, practice with everyone else, maybe practice alone for a while. We cannot achieve ANYTHING if we don't try, and of course if we don't work hard to get it. I'm sure it is easier to tell other people "you need to be a disciplined person", and don't follow our own advice. It is simpler to say it than actually live it. I particularly find it hard to be disciplined, and I wonder if it has something to do with passion. When you do what you like then it is fun to do it and you do it happily, but even if it's something you really like, you need to have discipline to achieve objectives and grow in whatever activity you like. There sould be a post to talk about discipline alone.
The third thing that came to my mind was a little something that happened in the minute 6:43. You can hear the leader shout (of course in Japanese so I suppose it's an order to do, or not to do, something) and you can see a boy, only one, run to his partner. Is this a mistake?? Ok, then I realized MY mistake. Why should I focus my attention in ONE little mistake, when the rest of the thing was just perfect?? It's like when you are in the school and get a grade of 99 out of 100 and cry because you didn't get that point. In the olympic games, less than a second can make you cry for happiness or for sadness, so I guess it depends on the situation. Anyway, the thing I really want to highlight is that sometimes, in my country, we focus on mistakes rather than in all the accomplishments. Of course we can learn from mistakes, but let's LEARN instead of CRITICIZE.
What are the lessons that you see in this video?? Perhaps you don't see a leeson but a great show.
