2017-08-09 I was talking with Jun Kuikei, a strategic consultant and creator of “Unexplored,” and he said, “Objective. is Resolving Complaints,” which I found interesting. He said that when an objective is not clearly articulated, many objectives are to resolve complaints, so why don’t we assume that the objective that is not yet articulated is to resolve complaints first?

Purpose has a bias that tends to be lofty formal. On the other hand, dissatisfaction tends to be considered emotional and vulgar, and there is a bias to avoid mentioning or looking away. In the field of consulting, looking only at what the customer tells you about the objective will not work if it is a tatemae. Therefore, by saying, “Tell me what you don’t like or what you have a problem with,” or “I am here to solve that,” we take the feelings of dissatisfaction and convert them into logic so that they can be handled with reason rather than emotion. This is what motivates problem-solving, he said.

It is often said that “clarification of objectives” is important. Let’s delve deeper into what these “objectives” are. When you achieve your goal, there must be some change compared to when you did not achieve it. If there is a change, there must be a before and an after. By separating them in this way, it becomes easier to clarify and verbalize “objectives” that have not been clearly verbalized.

On the other hand, when you say, “I’m not motivated…” even though your objective is clear, you may want to question whether your “objective” has become a form of “formalization. We tend to think that achieving that “objective” is a good thing or a MUST. So, let’s say that some innocent person asks, “Why don’t we just leave things the way they were before?” or “Don’t we really need an ‘after’?” or “Isn’t it silly to put in the effort to make a ‘change’?” If you are convinced that “You’re right,” then you might say, “I see. If you can agree with them, then the “purpose” was not necessary in the first place. On the other hand, if you can come up with a reason, “No, no, of course not, because…,” then those words should help to further clarify the purpose.

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(Footnote: This is a technique that focuses on the change before it occurs, but conversely, a technique is also used that asks, “Once that change has occurred, what happens next?” and moving on.) (Footnote: Strictly speaking, there are types of objectives that are not only about change, but also about “maintaining the status quo.” The dissatisfaction with the objective of wanting to maintain the status quo is that there is a risk of change.)


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