予想しないことが起こっても、「ゲストのために今できること」を考えればいいよ。 When met with the unexpected, simply think of the Guest, and all will be fine.(Japanese and English)

上司がいない僕たちは、毎日手探りで前に進んでいく日々だった。
まるで、真っ暗闇の中に放り出されて、「ほら、探し物を見つけごらん」って言われているような感じ。
何が正しいかわからないし、答えもわからない。
だから、自分たちなりの答えを作っていくしかなかったんだ。

そんな手探りの最中、事件が起きた。
「涼平、ボイラーが壊れた。シャワーが使えない。。」
冷静沈着木村から、嘆きの電話だ。
その日は雪まつりの真っ最中。宿は満室。

「やばいな。。。」
さすがに、僕も木村も、河嶋も焦った。
マニュアルもないし、上司もいない。判断は自分たち次第。
どうする？

僕らが取った行動は、近くの温泉を調べるということ。
そして、今日シャワーを浴びたいゲストが何人いるかを、調べること。(朝派の人もいるので。)
最後に、幸い車は持っていたので、1回につき最大4人を送迎できると考えて、往復にどれくらい時間がかかり、1巡目と2巡目の間にどれくらいの時間ができるかを計算した。

そして、宿内にいるゲスト全員に事情を説明して、その場でタイムスケジュールを組み、第一陣の出発。
銭湯へ向う途中、ほんの少しだけ寄り道して、札幌の夜の街で輝くテレビ塔やすすきのを紹介した。
もちろん、銭湯の代金も全て負担した。

そうやって、4巡だったかな？
合計約16名の送迎を完了して、無事に全員がシャワーを浴びた後に、不思議なことが起きてたんだ。
それは、僕らとゲスト、そして銭湯への送迎で一緒だったゲストが仲良くなったんだ。

僕も河嶋も、木村もホッとした。
2年近くも前のことだったかな？
当時のことを振り返ると、事件が起こったその瞬間に、3人が瞬時に考えたのは、
「この状況下で、ゲストのためにできることは何か？」
ただこれだけだった。
このミスで自分たちがどう思われようが、宿の評判が下がろうが、それはどうでもよかった。

「この状況下で、ゲストのためにできることは何か？」

常にこのことを念頭に考えていれば、間違った判断はしない。

会社は自分たちの評判を上げるための、ブランド品じゃないんだ。

誰のための、何の場所なのか？

泥臭くても、スマートでもいい。
その行動が、ゲストのためなら、相手は喜んでくれるよ。

「君は今、誰のために、何をしているのかな？」
自分を見失いそうになった時に、この言葉を自分自身に尋ねてみるといいよ。
僕も見失いそうになった時は、この言葉を言い聞かせるんだ。

We were 3 inexperienced boys without a boss to tell us what to do, or teach us what we needed to know. We didn’t know what was right or wrong, and we had infinite questions without a clue as to how to find the answers. Essentially, we dove into the ocean, and had to figure out how to swim along the way.

During this delicate beginner’s phase, we had an incident.

I got a call from Taka and he said, “Rio, the boiler is out of order. We can’t use the showers.” Usually one to keep his cool, I could hear in his voice that he was clearly distressed. It was during the Snow Festival, so we were a full house that night.

“Oh… what can we do?”

It’s a simple question, but wasn’t so easy to answer. At first - Taka, Shun, and I - we panicked. We had no boss or mentor - no manual for what to do in such a scenario.

We calmed down and understood that we had to make a judgement and take action. We asked ourselves again,

What can we do?

We decided to look up a nearby onsen (hot spring), and then figure out how many guests at Waya would want to shower that night (as some people prefer to do so only in the morning). We then calculated how long it would take for us to drive 4 people to the onsen (the max amount we could take at once), and how long the time gap would be in between taking these groups back and forth.

Once we’d figured out the details, we explained the situation to all the Waya guests, and made a schedule for when we would take each person to the onsen and back. We were able to work it out so that we could also take them to the TV tower in Odori park and to Susukino - the bustling downtown district (of course all paid for by us).

We took 4 groups of 4, which at the time was all of the guests we had. After we’d taken 16 people to the onsen and back, something interesting happened. As an unplanned, but welcome by-product of the situation, we found that we got along with the guests even more than we usually did - due to having taken them around the town a bit. Even better - the guests who rode in the car together ended up getting along as well, and new connections and friendships were formed.

The three of us were relieved. This incident (one of many) was about 2 years ago. Looking back, our only thought at the time was “What can we do for guests under the current circumstances?” This was our only thought. We weren’t concerned at all with our image or Waya’s reputation.

“What can we do for the guests under the current circumstances?”

If you keep this in mind, you won’t go wrong.

Companies are not brand-name goods that prioritize their reputation. Keep it about the customers (in our case, the guests).

Who and what are we doing this for? It doesn’t matter if we do it in style, or if we struggle through it - if the action is done for the guests, they will be happy.

“What and who are you doing this for?”

If you find that you are lost, try asking yourself this question.

I ask myself this often, and it always helps me to find my way.

Rio