I met Hayato Nakagawa, the protagonist of this story, eight years ago. During his job interview, I was confused as the interviewer. It wasn't an interview. It wasn't even a conversation. All he talked about was the game he was obsessed with at the time. Even if I asked him a question, he just kept talking about himself. In some places, he wasn't even able to form words. It was as if the vague thoughts in his head were coming out of his mouth.
It took a lot of courage to decide to hire him.
A transformation that will amaze everyone
However, he became a coder when Coding Factory was launched, and is currently working as a director for a BtoB website production service. He is a perfect example of how people can change, working as a liaison with customers and interacting with production staff both inside and outside the company, and doing a job that revolves around "dialogue."
Nakagawa handles a hybrid of direction and coding.
When I asked him why he had been able to change so dramatically, he answered as if it was a very simple thing.
"If you can't do it well, keep repeating it until you can."
It sounds simple in words, but the frequency and duration of his repetitions are unusual.
For example, when he first became a member of the Coding Factory, he didn't have the skills to complete a page from scratch, so he just corrected the source code created by others every day for a year. As a result, he was able to find mistakes without relying on validation checks, and his nickname at the time was "Lint-kun." (*Lint is the name of a validation check tool that finds coding mistakes.)
The other coders were in awe of his checks, which were as fast and accurate as a machine.
Also, when he was a coder, he had a hard time following a schedule. He would plan out the steps and record the time it took. When things didn't go as planned, he would look back minute by minute on the reasons why things didn't go as planned. The performance report he kept silently recording for five years was several centimeters thick. Thanks to that, his calculations of man-hours are accurate down to the minute.
"Oh, if I were to code that page, it would take about 18 minutes."
Faster than anyone else. And completed exactly on time.
Of course, being the former "Rint-kun," there are still no mistakes in the coding.
A page introducing Nakagawa on our website published in 2010. At the time, he was so engrossed in coding that he spent more time than eating.
In the fast-changing world of the web, his approach may seem like a turtle's pace, but the small successes and failures he has accumulated one by one like this give his words and actions depth, unlike the superficial information that you quickly "know" by searching.
A very troublesome, busybody type of fussy eater
I asked the people around me about their impressions of him.
"Meddlesome"
Whenever a new employee joins the company, he is eager to teach them this and that. Even if they are nervous, he will tell them about his deep private life from the first day, even if they are not asked, in order to open up to them. There are countless people who have been invited to "drink at my place". And it is the same for both men and women. (But there is no ulterior motive, I think.)
"Obsessive"
He's a huge PC geek. When someone gets a new computer, he uses all of his knowledge to help with the installation and settings. (He wants to help.) In some places, the settings are set up to his liking, even though he wasn't asked. There are apps I've never heard of installed. And he goes on and on about things that start with "This app is great" and are pretty long.
"Once I decide, I'll stick to it"
Of course, it wasn't just work. He ate ramen from the same restaurant for a month. He cleaned everyone's ashtrays every day for about five years. The troublesome thing is that because of that, he was as strict as a mother-in-law in a morning drama when checking how the ashtrays were being used.
Come to think of it, the story I told during my job interview about a game I played over and over again and became the best in the world.
"Not reading the atmosphere"
He doesn't look around. He doesn't think about laying the groundwork. He doesn't notice when someone next to him is having trouble. But despite that, he is very attentive to people. Maybe he's actually pretending not to read the atmosphere? There are suspicions about that.
Looking at it this way, there are many negative words, but when people say "Hayato...", they always smile. And more than anything, everyone in the company has an episode with him. He is a lovable character who has become an indispensable part of Monosus.
Nakagawa has a deep knowledge of computers. He always works on a high-spec customized computer. If you have any problems with the settings, ask him for help.
What I gained by continuing to do it
Now working as a director, his current challenge is to be able to "speak to customers in a way that convinces them." Even though he knows a lot about websites because he has always been involved in production, it is difficult to convey that knowledge to customers.
How can you explain to the other person in a way that convinces them that "it would be better to do it this way" or "if you do it this way the project will proceed smoothly"?
Choose your words carefully and put yourself in the other person's shoes.
Moving things forward while bringing together sometimes contradictory opinions.
The thing he was least comfortable with when he first joined the company has become his job now.
As I was thinking about him, I suddenly realized something.
"I see, maybe it's because of Hayato that I've been able to continue challenging myself in so many different ways."
He has become able to accomplish many things by continuing to try. Even when he hits a wall, he keeps trying without giving up. When I try something new, I can move forward with the belief that with a guy like him, the time will come when I can do it successfully.
Before I knew it, he had gone from being a "subordinate to be guided" to being a "comrade to take on challenges with."
Monosus is still incomplete, so there will be many unexpected and unsuccessful things that will happen in the future. Each time, he challenges himself to do what he "cannot do," keeps trying, and "becomes able to do it." And from now on, I'm sure he will increase the number of such friends one by one.