Recently, many watched the Final of Women’s World Cup held in Frankfurt, Germany. I believe it was the first time that Japan team played in the Final, whereas the U.S. team had won many games in the past and perceived to be No. 1 in the world. (When I was watching TV in the U.S., I got an impression that it was almost taken for granted that the U.S. will win the Championship!)
The miracle (almost! it was so unexpected!) happened early Monday morning. I was NOT watching the game (how can I do that? I wonder) though I was up from before 4:00 a.m. due to the jet lag. I was so wrapped up with all the task I needed to catch up for the Project at KMD etc. etc. I found out that the Japan team won in the Shootout just about 30 seconds after it happened, though. (I had to look up what Shoot out was!)
I was naturally excited and happy. What was even better was the note I received from my family and friends in the U.S. I did not quite expect them, but they took time to send me the congratulatory note for the Japan team and Japan in general. They said that it is about time something good happen to Japan which suffered from the major catastrophe in March. I was very touched. One of them even talked about his hope that gender parity would proceed in Japan!
All of us can share the joy with the team, congratulate and thank the team as they made us all so proud. It is such a great encouragement for us to continue our efforts n no matter how challenging and overwhelming the task may look. We can all remember that we can do it if we put our mind to it. What a great message!
Yoko Ishikura is a Professor at Hitotsubashi University ICS in the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy in Japan. She has held positions as a professor at the School of International Politics, Economics and Business of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, as a consultant at McKinsey and Company Inc. Japan and a visiting professor at Darden School.
Professor Ishikura is a consultant to a number of multinational companies and has been a frequent speaker at management conferences, seminars, and workshops throughout the world. She was a member of the Regulatory Reform Committee for the Japanese government and the International Competitiveness Commission for METI. She is currently a Forum Fellow of the World Economic Forum.
She is the author of Strategic Shift from OR choices to AND paradigm, Building Core Skills of Organization , and the co-author of the following publications: Managing Diversity in the 21st Century, Strategy for Cluster Initiatives in Japan , and Building a Career to the World Class Professionals – all in Japanese. Her books in English include: Asian Advantage, Hitotsubashi on Knowledge Management and Trust and Antitrust in Asian Business Alliances.
Professor Ishikura’s current research interests are focused on global competition, innovation, and knowledge management. She received her BA from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan; MBA from Darden School, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia; and DBA from Harvard Business School.
