省エネ大賞受賞技術開発の軌跡 (43) Trajectory of Energy Conservation Grand Prize-winning Technology Development (43)
第2章 誰でもできる発見や発明
Chapter 2 Discoveries and Inventions That Anyone Can Make
２．１ 細かな観察
２．１．3 感じよ、さらば与えられん
話がいつも脱線ばかりしているのは申し訳ありませんが、見る、聞く、ことからヒントをいただくことを述べました。
最近ではインターネットでも私たちは多くのことを学べますし、ヒントもいただけると私は思います。インターネットはどちらかというと見るという作業かもしれません。そこでは見たことや聞いいたことを問題の解決や、新商品・サービス開発などに結びつける感性、感じる力が必要です。ある現象を目にしたとき、あるいはある話、情報を耳にしたとき、それらを消化し感じなければそれらはただの現象、単なる話に終わります。
それでは見た現象や聞いた話を問題解決や、新商品・サービス開発などに結びつける感性を育てるにはどうしたらいいのでしょうか。あるいはどのような環境であればそのような感性が養われるのでしょうか。
それらは金銭的な適度の貧しさ、適度の低学歴、適度の不安などであると私は思います。私自身は不自由なく、成績不振でも大学に生かせてもらえるような高校生生活は送りませんでした。双子の兄は商業高校に通っていましたが、授業料を滞納せざるを得ない月が何度もあったと後で聞かされました。その時、父親は入院生活を送っていました。母親には相当厳しい、辛い日々だったと思います。私は学力的に大学に入学できる力はありませんでしたが、クラスでは２年生の時にトップになっていました。そのおかげか、私は東洋紡の国内大学留学制度を狙って東洋紡績株式会社の入社試験を受け、幸いにも入社させてもらいました。
この東洋紡績には東大をはじめ多くの国立大学卒業の社員や博士号資格者がおられました。私は毎日といってよいほど工業高校卒という低学歴をイヤというほど感じました。しかし、これは感謝すべき良い環境でした。それまでにはそのような高学歴社会の環境に身をおいたことはなかったのですから。そのためにこの環境は私の反発力や入社目的の国内大学留学制度試験合格のための良い刺激、発奮材料となりました。これもやはり学歴が無いことを逆に推進力にできたのですから、ありがたいのです。
続く
Names of the award-winning companies in the booklet distributed at the Energy Conservation Vanguard 21 award ceremony sponsored by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the Energy Conservation Center on January 29, 1997.
The article introducing the "Setsuden-mushi" that I developed in the booklet distributed at the Energy Conservation Vanguard 21 award ceremony sponsored by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the Energy Conservation Center on January 29, 1997.
2.1.3 Feel it and something will be given.
I'm sorry that the story is always derailed, but I wrote that I would like to get hints from seeing, listening and so on.
These days we can learn a lot from the internet, which will give us some hints. The Internet surfing may be a work of looking. There, it is necessary to have the sensitivity and power to connect what you see and hear with problem solving and new product/service development. When you see a phenomenon or when you hear a story or information, if you don't digest and feel them as hints, they end up as just a phenomenon or a mere story.
Then, how can we develop the sensitivities that connect the phenomena we see and the stories we hear to problem solving and the development of new products and services? Or in what kind of environment would such sensitivity be nurtured?
I think they are, for example, moderate financial poverty, moderate educational background, moderate anxiety. I spent my high school days with some difficulties and didn’t think that I could go to university even with poor school grades. My twin brother was attending a commercial high school and I was studying at a technical high school in the same period, but I was later told that he could not pay the tuition fees for many months. At that time, our father was hospitalized. I think it was a very tough time for my mother. I don’t think that I had the academic ability to enter university easily, but I was at the top of my class when I was in the second grade. Thanks to that, I took the entrance examination for Toyobo Co., Ltd., aiming at Toyobo's domestic university study system and fortunately I was allowed to join the company.
This company of Toyobo had many employees who graduated from National University including University of Tokyo and some of them were qualified doctorates. I couldn't help but feel that I had a low academic background as an industrial high school graduate almost every day. But this was a good environment to appreciate because until then I had never been exposed to such a highly educated environment. For this reason, this environment provided me with a great deal of repulsion and good motivation to pass the examination the company had prepared to the high school graduate employees. I was grateful for the fact of the lack of educational background because I was able to use it as a driving force.
To be continued
The cover of the booklet distributed at the Energy Conservation Vanguard 21 award ceremony sponsored by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the Energy Conservation Center on January 29, 1997.