7. Productive Meetings

Miyamoto:

A lot of meetings don’t go well when they are organised too well.

Itoi:

Oh, yeah.

Miyamoto:

What is that about? Some meetings are awful.

Itoi:

It may sound extreme, but meetings are no good when someone has to say, “Alright, then...” in order to officially start it.

Everyone:

(laughs)

Miyamoto:

I think a pattern of good meetings is that someone attending the meeting can say, “I’m not so sure” to the proposal made there.

Itoi:

Ahh.

Miyamoto:

It’s no good if someone doesn’t at least once introduce some creative destruction, like, “I’m not so sure...” Something that is broken down and reassembled has greater reality.

Iwata:

That’s right.

Itoi:

What I often say is “That’s fine, but...” Things start going well with, “That’s fine, but...”

Miyamoto:

Oh...

Iwata:

Conversation that kicks off with, “That’s fine...” and “But...”

Itoi:

Right, right. I blurt out, “That’s fine, but...” when I myself don’t really know what it is I want to say! But I can’t pass it through the way it is, or I can, because it’s basically all right, but I’m like, “Isn’t it a little boring like that?” So what I say after “That’s fine, but...” is what reflects my values.

Miyamoto:

That’s right.

Itoi:

As in, “Isn’t that a little boring?” or “Aren’t you avoiding what you should really be doing?” Or, “Don’t you think the fans may not like that?”

Miyamoto:

Right. It’s important that the values of someone who says that - the values of a single person - rework the problem once. Then its get more real.

Itoi:

Even when something hasn’t come together yet, it gets much better if someone else’s values break it down once, like, “No, not like that...”

Miyamoto:

On the other hand, when it comes to everyone deciding together, it lacks sharpness or something like that.

Iwata:

Yeah. When a meeting yields results, you didn’t decide anything by consensus, but rather, somebody laid their opinion on the line.

Itoi:

Yes, I really believe that.

Miyamoto:

To go back a bit, during those sessions we have during lunch, I have these boisterous conversations with Iwata-san or Nakago-san while we eat, and when everyone returns to work, we divide into those who take the stairs up and those who go down.

Iwata:

Nakago-san is on B1, while Miyamoto-san is on 5 and I’m on 7.

Miyamoto:

Yeah, I climb up the stairs. And before we part, we stop and stand a bit around the handrails and briefly sum up, like, “So the gist of today’s conversations was...” I feel like a lot of times that is important.

Itoi:

Uh-huh...

Iwata:

You draw a conclusion.

Miyamoto:

In the end, that about sums it up. I say, “I’ll give it a shot,” and go up the stairs and think about it some more.

Iwata:

For a little while afterward, you each work as individuals. Then you gather again for lunch. If you think about it, it’s an unusual way of working.

Miyamoto:

Yeah. (laughs) I wonder about that.

Itoi:

But it shows good work relations.

Everyone:

(laughs)