"Work like you live" - Let's create a ruler app for that purpose - Part 1 -

Hello, this is Yamauchi from the Production Department.
It's been a while since my last post, but in this article I'd like to write about my idea (fantasy), including organizing my thoughts on a question I've been vaguely thinking about for a while: "What kind of internal activities would be typical of Monosus?"

There are many things that are generally called in-house activities, such as clubs, extracurricular activities, and company trips, but one thing that I personally think is unique about Monosus is the "in-house app." However, it is not literally an activity of developing applications. As stated in last year's article, " Create a comfortable place for yourself. Apps that customize the company," Monosus' app is " an activity that makes in-house activities convenient and fun, by considering the basic rules established by the company as an operating system ."

When I heard about this app from its creator, CEO Hayashi, at a general meeting, I thought it was a great concept, but with the recent changes in Monosus' organizational structure and culture, I have some personal thoughts (both positive and negative) about it, and I began to think that now might be the right time to make more use of the "Monosus App."

I'm not sure who's there

I feel like there is a big wave of change going on at Monosus right now, including the full flextime system introduced last year and the big organizational changes at the beginning of the year. I've been with the company for seven years, and I think the current changes are the most drastic in those seven years.

Personally, the most positive thing about this is that each individual has more freedom in how they interact with the company; to put it simply, they can now customize their work style.
On the other hand, one negative aspect is that my personal connections have weakened a little, especially with members from other departments or with whom I have difficulty interacting in my everyday work.

I myself have been working at a client's company for the past few years (more than half of my career), but since morning meetings are no longer held and the opportunities for in-house events such as the Monosus Bar, which used to be held monthly, have decreased, I've lost track of what kind of people are in each department and what they do. (Is it just me...?)

The company has grown so rapidly, but I've always loved in-house events, so I feel a bit lonely. Also, I'm personally interested in how everyone (including me) will be involved in the steadily changing Monosus, and what further changes will come to the organization, or rather the group of people, called Monosus. I want to get a good feel for the big picture at this time of great upsurge.

With that in mind, in this situation where it's a little harder to see the faces of those around us than before, I wish there were more opportunities to connect with each other in the company again. Of course, the Monosasu site is a place where we can communicate and learn about the "now" of each member, but I wonder if we could connect more directly and do something together, and events like the Monosasu bar are fun, but I would like to use this opportunity to make a big wave together with everyone in the current changes at Monosasu, or to create a new wave, even if it's small. Or rather, I would like to do that. As I was thinking about this, I came up with the idea of utilizing the Monosasu app system.

Ruler app = What everyone likes × What they can do

So, what is the best way to utilize the Monosusapp system?
My ideal is to achieve the following through my activities with the Monosasu app:

1. You can pursue what you like, what interests you, and what you want to do.
2. Use your skills or learn new skills
3. You can collaborate across departments with in-house members who you don't usually have contact with in your everyday work.
   

The most important thing is, of course, number 1. I'm sure there are Monosus members whose current work falls into number 1, but generally speaking, I think it's difficult to do what you "personally like" in the "workplace at work."

For example, I studied contemporary art throughout my student days, and even now I run a gallery on weekends as a personal activity, but I have not been able to bring that kind of activity into a company and incorporate it into client work or launch it as an in-house project, and I didn't think it was possible in the first place.

This is because I thought that I would not be able to generate sufficient profits for the organization through my activities, in other words, that I would not be able to commercialize them. Unfortunately, one reason is that I do not have sufficient ability to "launch a project and grow it into a profitable business," but in a sense, I think that I had "given up on what I love," meaning that my personal activities are personal and work is work.

On the Monosas website, all the members talk about what they like and what they are working on, sometimes with strange enthusiasm (lol). ( Best example / Latest example / Flying example ) It really gets to me when I read about it. Also, when I have a chance to talk with Monosas members at buddy lunches , I like to ask them detailed questions about their hobbies and interests rather than about work, and everyone is really knowledgeable about the things they like, and it's really interesting to listen to them. They work hard, but at the same time, they have things they like just as seriously, or even more seriously.

So, rather than leaving it as a hobby, why not take advantage of the company's "official" system, the Ruler App, and bring it into the "workplace" where we spend most of our lives? That's what I think. It's a bit of a leap, but one of Google's famous internal activities is the 20% Project. This means that employees are allowed to spend 20% of their working hours on things or projects they like, and it is said that Gmail was born from this project. 3M's Post-it notes are also said to have been born from a similar initiative, but somehow the image I have of them is something similar to a club or lab-like activity like this. (Although the scale of the analogy is a bit large.)

In this regard, "2. Being able to utilize your skills or learn through app activities" and "3. Being able to connect with internal members across departments through shared interests" become important.

I think one of the reasons to belong to an organization is to work as a team. I think there are many things that can be done by a team, things that can't be done alone, and can be made happen. Especially since Monosus is a production company. There are people with various specialized skills. And everyone must have something they're good at besides their work skills. By the way, my title is planner, but I'm good at illustrations and silly four-panel comics. (laughs) I think it would be interesting if we could make visible and multiply those "everyone's strengths that are not usually visible = skills separate from their job functions."

Regarding the interactions and connections between members, Monosus' main job, web production, has a somewhat standardized flow of planning → design → development/coding → checking. To put it bluntly, there aren't many opportunities for planners and coders to communicate directly. Moreover, unless they are involved in the same project, there are almost no opportunities to talk apart from systems such as buddy lunches. At least for those of us who are permanently stationed here, it's almost nonexistent.

Also, in normal projects, we create a systematic team structure to ensure efficiency and quality, but in Monosasu Appli activities, the teams have no hierarchy, and individuals are directly connected to each other, and the image spreads. It's a rhizome structure as opposed to the tree structure often mentioned in organizational theory. What's more, it's a happy world where superiors, subordinates, seniors, and juniors don't matter, and although there is courtesy, there is zero reservation or consideration. (laughs)

Members who would not normally connect with each other across departments gather together with a commonality of "interests." And as each person's knowledge, skills, and interests intersect, things take shape (even if they don't take shape, they can at least try).

If the Monosasu site is a place where each member can talk about their "individuality," "likes," and "thoughts" in the first person, then the Monosasu app is a place that directly connects that "I" to "together." Turning "likes" into projects = creating another public space within the company that is separate from projects, and by doing so, it can also be said that semi-fixed communication can be shuffled.

This has been a bit of an abstract discussion, but please bear with me for a little longer.

Boosting & remixing everyone's "everyday life"

To digress a little, I think that everyone consciously or unconsciously appeals to their "favorite things" in various situations at work. For example, the decorations around their desk, the books lined up, the gadgets they use, the sneakers they wear, the favorite music they introduce in their Monosasu articles, etc. Everyone's personality and the culture they belong to are exuded.

I think that's actually a part of everyone's "daily life." And it's an important part of daily life. The term "work-life integration" is often used as an extension of "work-life balance," but to me, the things I mentioned above are also part of it. (Because if your desk is surrounded by things you like, you'll feel more excited or calm, and as a result, your productivity will increase and your ideas will spread, right? lol)

I want to boost the "daily life" of everyone that is slowly but surely seeping out of the workplace. And what will come out when you mix it all up? Well, you won't know until you try it, but anyway, in this big, surging place called Monosus, I want to create something that hasn't been born before, even if it doesn't have to be in a pretty shape. This may sound like an exaggeration, but I think the great thing about the Monosus app is that in addition to being an "official activity within the company," the "range of interpretation and use is (almost) infinite," so I think there is a lot of potential.

Work like you live. One of the reasons for this

As I wrote earlier, the Monosas app activity "creates another public space within the company," or in other words, "a space to turn one's daily life (what one likes) into a public activity within the company." There, Monosas members have the opportunity to "try out what they like and what they want to do" equally, and can interact with each other on an equal footing as "developers" of the Monosas app.

There are probably many people who think, "What's wrong with keeping it a hobby?" or "I want to keep work and life separate," and I think there are many things that can be achieved by keeping it separate like that. However, I feel a great sense of reality in the "off" parts, such as reading everyone's articles on the Monosasu site, seeing unexpected sides of people at buddy lunches, and having nerdy conversations in the smoking area. This is because everyone's "daily lives" are exuded.

That's why I want to turn "off" into "on", including myself. There's a saying that "a box that doesn't open is a box that never opens", but if you can open up your everyday life in the workplace, you'll surely see contents you've never seen before. And depending on how you develop the ruler app, I'm imagining that the following flow will emerge as a result.

This process is a rough ideal, so there are hurdles to overcome from 3 (participation of people from outside the company) to 4 (developing the project), and I think there are even bigger obstacles to overcome from 4 (developing the project) to 5 (turning the activities into a business).

However, I think the important thing is that "Monosus will become a place where you can create the job you want to do." Creating the job you want to do is like working like you live. Of course, it's not enough to just "like it" or "want to try it" at this point, but the first step in the process to get there is to just try, try, and if it doesn't work, move on to the next thing. I think that's the significance and potential of an app that measures that.

Well, the first part was quite long, but in the second part, I would like to introduce Yamauchi's idea for a "measurement app that everyone wants to make"!