Although he looks tough, he moves swiftly and does his job carefully. "Dokaben the Ruler" is a gentle and strong man.

I'm Manabe, the head of the Production Department. I'd like to write about the MVP award winner, Kobayashi Makoto. It's already been three years since Makoto started working on a resident project at a foreign IT company. Since he is based outside the company, I think many Monosus members have no idea what kind of work he actually does.

Here are three main reasons why he was named MVP:

• He doesn't drink or smoke, but he looks like a cheat
• Has earned the trust of clients
• Going beyond the boundaries of routine work, the company is growing rapidly

This time, I would like to tell you about the charm of Kobayashi Makoto, also known as "Ruler Dokaben."

A B-BOY who doesn't drink or smoke.

I once again felt a strong respect for Makoto when we all went to Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture in November last year. It was during an arm-wrestling session at TOEC Nature School, which we visited the day after the anniversary party.

Makoto's opponent was TOEC's Mogura-san (a wild child famous for his strong arms?). He was such a strong opponent that he had become the arm wrestling champion at the party the day before, but he defeated him in an instant and won the competition. I remember feeling, for some reason, "I'm so glad that Makoto is a member of the production club!"

As you can see, he looks very bulky, so at first glance you can sense his considerable pressure. Of course, he's also strong. But he's a B-BOY, so his movements are very agile. And his work is very meticulous. What's more, he's a clean-cut guy who doesn't drink or smoke. He's full of irresistible charm that goes beyond all imagination (laughs).

He met Monosus about seven years ago, when he was a freelance web director and had saved Monosus from difficult situations many times. (You could also say that he was always asking for difficult work.) After that, he was often invited by Vice President Nagai and CEO Hayashi to join Monosus, but he kept turning them down.

A man with an iron will. "Makoto, even if you try to woo him, it's impossible."

When I first asked him for work, he was helping me with a project to support the Tohoku reconstruction efforts of a foreign IT company on a project-by-project basis, but I remember him clearly saying, "The project is worthwhile, but I don't want to belong to an organization." (In fact, even after that, we had several exchanges about whether he would join the company or not.)

After that, his mindset changed and he started to feel the fun of working in a team. Also, due to changes in the company Monosus, he has been working as an official member of Monosus for about a year now. (I would like to ask him about this change in thinking again in detail next time.)

"Gaining the client's trust" is a simple yet difficult achievement.

One thing we at Monosus have been talking about lately as a way of thinking about client-based projects is the idea of being "the person inside." Being "the person inside" is a way of working in which you bring yourself to a state where you can "see" the same scenery as the client and work together to produce results.

I believe that our relationship is not simply one of paying and receiving money as a result of work, or ordering work and delivering it, but rather a continuous one in which we continue to produce small results and grow together.

Makoto is originally a very earnest person who hates crooked things, so he is very good at managing project progress and quality. On top of that, he has a former delinquent temperament that makes him say, "If I'm assigned to a project, I'll do it even if I have to die," so even when he is assigned to a project team for the first time, he calmly completes the task with outstanding stability. Even clients and team members say, "I feel like Mako-chan will be fine," and he has earned the trust of clients and team members, including his appearance.

Even at the meeting to select the MVP, a manager from another department commented, "In addition to delivering the product properly, it's also important to gain the client's trust. It's a given, but it's actually really difficult. Especially when it comes to projects where you're with the client all day and night." I think receiving such encouraging words shows the trust in his work.

From autonomy to initiative. From director to project manager.
I look forward to it growing into "Monoraku no Dokaben."

Another important work ethic at Monosus is the acquisition of "portable skills." Portable skills are skills that can be carried around and are required for any job, regardless of industry or occupation, and can be categorized into three types: "skills for oneself," "skills for others," and "skills for problems."

Perhaps because Makoto has been a freelancer for a long time, he has sufficient "self-skills" that allow him to control his motivation, and he has high "other-skills" that allow him to listen carefully to others and respond sincerely to both himself and others. In addition, his "problem-solving skills" in terms of how he handles work, including his analytical skills, planning skills, and execution skills, also seem to be very high.

He is truly like "Dokaben the Ruler." (This is a rather abrupt analogy.)

Makoto has already achieved great results and earned trust as a director. From a director who exercises "independence" in routine tasks with clear tasks, he has taken a step further to become a project manager who can think, judge, and act independently from the client's perspective. I'm sure he will continue to broaden his horizons.

Please look forward to the future developments of Kobayashi Makoto, who continues to grow rapidly!