Hello. This is Yamauchi from Monosus Production Department.
In this article, we will introduce Fujiwara Marie, a rookie from the production department.
Fujiwara joined Monosus on November 2nd, about a year ago, and now works mainly at the Google Innovation Tohoku office and the Google Cloud marketing team, where he is in charge of the production and ongoing production of marketing tools such as social media-related creative work, brochures, and web landing pages, which were previously my responsibilities.
It's been a year since she joined the company, and she has been through a lot of tough situations together with her team members. So, what kind of changes and thoughts have arisen within Fujiwara, and what is her "yardstick" now?
My days as an illustration student at Tamabi, and my desire to communicate through drawing
Fujiwara is a rare art school graduate among Monosus. He majored in illustration at the Department of Graphic Design at Tama Art University. He originally wanted to work in animation, but was inspired by the power of a single painting by members of the djembe club he belonged to at the time, who were majoring in painting, and decided to major in illustration.
An illustration by Fujiwara from his time at Tamabi Art University. A calm and cheerful drawing that is typical of Fujiwara. It somehow resembles Fujiwara himself... We are looking forward to your illustration work! ?
While he was creating his works, he gradually began to think that he wanted more people to know about the works of his favorite fellow artists, and that he wanted to be a bridge between their work and the world. This desire only grew stronger after he graduated and got a job, and it was this that led him to change jobs to Monosus.
He plays with his beloved djembe club friends. Even after graduating, they still get together and play the djembe. He's always loved drums and other percussion instruments, and even now, he gets excited when he hears the sounds of festivals in the city.
At " Zunma Chango's Nikopika Museum" held at Musashino Public Hall in September this year (second from the left). Zunma Chango is a performance group formed by friends from their days at Tama Art University, who sing, dance, and draw. Fujiwara plays the keyboard harmonica as part of the backing band. Zunma Chango's stage was more interesting than expected...
Changing jobs to Monosus: Empathy for "working with people you want to live with"
Fujiwara was in charge of product promotion as a sales planner at the construction manufacturer where he was employed, but his desire to bridge the gap between the artists around him and the world gradually grew stronger, and in order to do so, he needed the skills to disseminate information, so he was determined to change jobs to the web industry! He searched the internet and came across a job advertisement for Monosus in the Nihon Shigoto Hyakkaten magazine titled "The power of individuals to support each other ."
Fujiwara, who believes that "living" and "working" are one and the same, was impressed by the words of Monosus' Hayashi in the article, "Working is like living together, so I think it would be good to find someone who can easily fit into that," and thought, "This is it!" so he applied. The idea of "working with people you want to live with" is becoming more and more widespread within Monosus. Incidentally, he applied right before the deadline, and when asked why, he said, "I was so careful in preparing my resume that I applied late." At his own pace...!
Upon hearing more about it, it turns out that he took the time to create it in order to properly reflect on his work up to that point. A typical Fujiwara story.
Manabe, the head of the production department, Iwaki, and I participated in Fujiwara's interview, and I was impressed by how polite and sincere he was. "Ah, this guy can definitely be trusted." He seemed to have good taste in many ways, and I remember the three of us saying "That's a good idea!" after the interview.
Monosus' 11th anniversary party was held soon after I joined the company. I had already gotten acquainted with the other Monosus employees and was preparing for the BBQ.
Looking back, I think it was her sincerity that led to the decision to hire Fujiwara. On the other hand, what did Fujiwara actually think of Monosus after the interview? When asked, he said that he was sympathetic to the company culture, where some employees are doing what they want to do (music activities, gallery, etc.) in addition to their jobs. Another question that Fujiwara asked Manabe during the interview was a kind of reverse interview: "What is the most rewarding moment in your work?" Manabe's response to this was, "I guess when we accomplish a good job together as a team."
Fujiwara has always thought it would be great to create a space where everyone can come together since his student days. He wanted to continue to pursue that feeling of well-being, so he was deeply touched by Manabe's response.
We suddenly went to the scene at full speed.
The experience he gained there "exceeded his expectations."
After joining Monosus, Fujiwara immediately joined the Google project team, where he was tasked with rapidly progressing tasks such as supporting on-site operations for events, producing pamphlets, managing social media, producing email newsletters, and even analyzing website access.
Our work in the production department requires speed, multitasking, and cross-disciplinary skills such as collaboration with external creators. Because the team's resources are limited, it is difficult to find time to systematically educate staff on know-how. So, even newcomers are basically sent straight to the site and given on-the-job training to carry out their work. Of course, we provide support for judgment and quality control at key points, but looking back, I think it was quite a stretch assignment. Fujiwara, however, didn't show any signs of dissatisfaction and overcame each of his unfamiliar tasks one by one. I imagine it was quite tough, though...
In addition to working on client projects, he was also selected to be a member of the year-end party committee for the year he joined the company. He worked together with the other committee members in between his busy schedule, and despite receiving criticism many times from the company's president, Hayashi, he managed to create a wonderful year-end party where everyone could say to each other with a refreshing attitude, "Thank you for your hard work this year!"
Monosus' 2015 year-end party was a lively affair, held in a tatami room style (community center style!?). ( Click here for details on the activities of the year-end party committee.)
After joining Monosus, Fujiwara was immediately assigned to various sites, but he says that what he learned there exceeded his expectations. He said that he was learning everything that was truly necessary for production. He said that it was not enough to simply create what was requested, but that it was important to get to know the other party more deeply and fully understand the background of the project. To be honest, he was surprised (in a good way) that a production company would do such things.
When we assigned tasks to someone, we explained the background and intention behind it, but when you first start working, you tend to be preoccupied with the task at hand. Of course, Fujiwara was like that for a while. But after a year, the fact that he was saying the above words meant that his experience was starting to take root and become part of his thinking.
Everyone is open,
Let's move things forward and create things together.
Another important thing for Fujiwara was that "everyone was open and worked together."
This is exactly what we in the production department, and by extension the entire company, value. We cherish an environment where anyone can speak up and discuss things on an equal footing.
However, Fujiwara says that he still gets nervous when speaking up or expressing himself. He sometimes hesitates to voice his opinion because he is worried that his thoughts may differ from those of the other person, and now he wants to break out of that shell.
In the Google projects she mainly works on, the team and the client value brainstorming sessions. Quickly exchange ideas and reach a conclusion. You have to speak up about even the smallest things to move the discussion forward, and especially when it comes to projects you are in charge of, you have to speak up and draw out everyone's opinions.
She realized this when she was put in charge of a project to renew the product brochure for a cloud service. I was also in charge of part of the project two years ago, but when she was in charge, I was in charge of everything from planning to editing, manuscript creation and design.
Looking back on that time, Fujiwara says that at first he was too distracted by small details and had a hard time taking a bird's-eye view of the whole and deciding on each element one by one. He spent a lot of time fretting about the composition by himself, and the schedule finally became tight...
When things just weren't going anywhere, I decided to take a chance and show the client the structure I'd quickly created during a regular meeting. I received a lot of feedback on the spot, including opinions that I hadn't thought of, so I realized that I needed to keep communicating this.
From there, he realized the importance of a "dialog" style, where you share with as many people as possible and build things up by accumulating feedback.
Fujiwara's laptop is covered with stickers related to past projects. Looking back at it, I realize we've worked on a lot of different projects together.
What I learned from my involvement with the local community.
Another big change for Fujiwara is the dramatic increase in opportunities to get involved in the local community.
In particular, Innovation Tohoku has involved business trips to the three Tohoku prefectures, Field Hack ONAGAWA , and even participating in events such as WoodLuck #4 . Fujiwara says that through these experiences, he has been able to learn about what is happening in the region. In other words, he has realized that the people who are active in the regions he has been involved with are working with the next generation in mind. He believes that whether or not he is aware of this will change his future thinking.
At WoodLuck #4 held in Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture. The event was a chance to think about the future of the region while touring local lumber mills and other places, and to consider how biomass energy can be utilized.
Fujiwara recalls that at WoodLuck #4 , a gathering to think about local energy that he participated in this summer, the discussion first turned to how he wanted society to be, and then the role of energy came up. He says that through his involvement with the community, he is beginning to realize the need to think about things from that vision of society. Furthermore, Fujiwara says that when he sees people making things happen in the community through projects, they seem to be taking risks and creating life in the community. He says that it was his experience with Monosus that made him realize that people with that kind of courage are the ones who open up new possibilities.
Even in the midst of his busy schedule, Fujiwara finds time to go out and explore the local area. This is a recent cycling trip he took around Onomichi and the Shimanami Kaido (Fujiwara apparently spent his childhood in Onomichi).
Fujiwara also goes cycling on the Shimanami Kaido (twice in a short period of time lol) and has become a regular member of the Monosus Mountaineering Club, actively participating in experiences that are hard to come by in everyday life. Moreover, he combines his experiences at the places he travels with his work experiences to gain new realizations. I think this is typical of Fujiwara, who doesn't separate "living" and "working" but sees them as one thing.
The other day, I went to the North Yatsugatake Mountains with the Monosus Mountaineering Club. After this, I was almost blown away by a strong wind on the ridge.
"To ensure that everyone can work comfortably"
Fujiwara, who has worked at Monosus for the past year, answered that the most important thing in his work is "to make it possible for everyone to work comfortably." He then carefully chose his words as follows:
"If everyone is following the lead of others, I think the end result will be inconsistent. And even if we create something good, if everyone isn't happy with it, it won't feel like a comfortable way of working. I think a way of working where everyone can accept each other's values and create things with everyone's consent is what will lead to the next step for everyone.
To achieve this, I want to get more involved in the project, right from the stage of thinking about what it should be. I want to be aware that I am a member of the team and raise the level of how I perceive and get involved in my work."
That's quite a good thing to say... I don't usually hear things like this, so it really touched my heart. To be honest, I still have a long way to go in terms of knowledge and skills, but if I don't work sincerely, I won't be able to say these things honestly. I think that her words show her growth over the past year at Monosus.
Finally, here's this photo. It's Mt. Hakuba, where I went with Dojo from the mountaineering club.
In preparing this article, Fujiwara sent me a few photos, and this is one I personally like. I think it's very much like her, walking slowly but steadily along the ridge at her own pace.
Fujiwara says that changing jobs to Monosus has given him the opportunity to encounter many different people, things, and values. He says that these encounters have broadened his ideas about what his future should look like.
Fujiwara's second year at Monosus is about to begin. I'm looking forward to seeing what her future looks like by this time next year!