"Please let me hire someone else."
Going back a few hours.
I was the interviewer, and Kawarazaki was a job applicant who came for a job interview. That was how I first met him.
The recruitment interview period was drawing to an end, and I had already decided on two candidates I wanted to work with (all positions were filled), so I was filled with a sense of relief that the recruitment process would go smoothly. Because of this situation at Kawarazaki's interview, I remember that I was less enthusiastic than at the beginning of the interview. (Sorry, I'm not usually like that.)
However, once the interview started, my thoughts changed.
He was a refreshing young man with a clear and crisp response that left a good impression on me. Moreover, he was an aspiring designer and was full of motivation.
At the time, there was no one on the operations team who was primarily responsible for design.
Therefore, when design work arose, we would request it from a designer on another team, but since that designer had other primary projects to work on, it was often difficult to respond on the same day.
However, this system was insufficient for operational issues that arise suddenly and often require immediate response. Just when we were thinking about incorporating a designer into the team, Taira Kawarazaki appeared.
He matches the vision of the operations team, and is a very motivated person.
"Why not?"
So,
"Please increase our hiring quota by one, as this person will be an essential member of the operations team going forward!"
He spoke directly to the company's president, Hayashi.
His enthusiasm was conveyed, and he was now working as a full-fledged member of Monosus.
This was how I met Kawarazaki Taira, the current head of the operations team.
The beginning of suffering
Although it was good that he was able to join the company without any problems, that's when the days of anguish began.
In the operations team, we require skills that match the client's needs, so we cannot divide the work into design because we're a designer, or coding because we're a coder. Instead, we ask people to do anything when necessary and develop the ability to respond in a wide range of situations.
Of course, high skill is also required in one area.
So I asked Kawarazaki to take on a variety of roles other than coding, direction, and design.
Kawarazaki has experience designing for print media but no experience in the web industry, so it must have been a burden for him to do work he had never done before in a new industry where he was unfamiliar with the business.
On the other hand, even though he joined the company saying he wanted to do web design, there were few design jobs at the time, so he may have been disappointed. However, he never complained and actively took on operational tasks, and I have nothing but words of gratitude for him.
However, there must have been a lot of internal conflict within him.
thanks so much.
Gradually, the number of design jobs began to increase.
This is difficult in itself, and there are difficulties that are different from designing for paper media.
When working with a new client, I had a lot of trouble getting a grasp on the tone and manner of the design.
Even when we submit a design that we've tried many different times together, saying things like "this isn't right, that isn't right," to the customer, they always come home with a bunch of instructions for corrections.
Furthermore, even if you respond to the correction requests and submit the design, the design is not fixed, and you often end up in a vicious cycle of having to send it back and forth over and over again.
Now, when I think back to that time, I realize that the imbalance that arose from honestly and squarely accepting and responding to each and every correction request was due to my narrow perspective at the time, and I was unable to see the bigger picture, so I ended up submitting a horrible design.
Design has many aspects that are sensory and depend on the individual, and when that is communicated through words or text, it is often interpreted in a variety of ways depending on the recipient.
I couldn't accept it well and it bothered me. Kawarazaki was even more troubled than I was.
Both of our minds were completely frozen...
Customers now say, "We are satisfied with the design quality!" and this episode speaks to Kawarazaki's extremely "honest" personality.
The personality of "Kawasaki Taira"
Next, we will introduce Kawarazaki Taira's personality.
Many people around him call him "Taira."
"Kawarazaki Taira" is a nice name.
According to Taira himself, the meaning of "Taira" is that his parents gave him the name out of their warm wish that he and those around him would live in peace.
That's right, he has a very gentle personality.
On the surface...
At times, they make it clear that they will not compromise.
He is generally a gentle person, so even if you make an unreasonable request, he will not refuse if he can fulfill it with his own effort.
Even if a sudden, unreasonable request is made, we try to accommodate it as much as possible.
It's not good to rely on that, but it's certainly been a great help.
One day, I told him, "It's okay to say it's impossible if it's impossible."
"If refusing creates an unpleasant atmosphere, I choose to put up with it and just go ahead and do it."
and.
Be an adult.
But he must be stressed out. When we're on the same train on the way home and he vents his frustrations to me, I feel a little more at ease.
I'd be worried if he stopped vomiting anything after this.
We haven't been able to go home together recently, so if you have something saved up, please invite me out anytime. (laughs)
Because of his personality, he is someone everyone can rely on and finds easy to work with.
Not everyone can make their work seem easy.
Illustration by "Kawarazaki Taira"
Kawarazaki is also particularly skilled at drawing illustrations.
They make high-quality items such as welcome boards for friends' weddings, and I am a big fan.
Recently, there have been a lot of weddings for friends, and he has been asked to create illustrations for wedding boards and the like, so he seems to be always busy on the weekends.
I received some illustrations that he created in the past, so I would like to take this opportunity to introduce them to you.
An example of an illustration by Taira Kawarazaki
He is very dexterous. If he isn't careful, he will draw illustrations during a meeting and get told off. He can also be careless in some areas.
My favorite is the one on the top right. I would love to be able to draw illustrations like this.
from now
Whenever I have my picture taken, I always take off my glasses. Always. With the members of the Kawarazaki group. From the left: Kagawa, Kawarazaki, Hamabata.
When I think about it, whenever I ask Kawarazaki to do a job, he usually sees the project through to delivery smoothly.
The same goes for groups.
It's pretty much left to him.
She worries even more than I do, but because of that she is able to check and pay attention to the small details, so I can leave it to her with peace of mind.
If anything happens, they will consult with me immediately, and their timing may be just perfect.
He has now become a skilled team leader and is a reliable presence who leads his team members with determination.
Since joining the company, Kawarazaki has steadily grown alongside the operations team, step by step.
I want you to continue to move forward steadily as you have done until now.
I sincerely hope that, as a colleague who leads the operations team and as its central figure, I will continue to take on various challenges together with you.
KURIHARA Tsutomu