Nice to meet you, I'm Maruo.

"There's space. I want to do something new and interesting!"
These days, I want to be able to respond to such dream-filled challenges.

In order to help employees develop ideas that are not bound by stereotypes, we recently held an in-house workshop on "Short Story Idea Methods," inviting short story writer Masatomo Tamaru as the instructor.

The short-short ideation method is a technique for creating short stories from absurd words and using them to generate business ideas for new products, services, and other things.
The appeal of this job is that it allows you to think freely and outside the box.

However, I had never written a story before, and my brain has become more and more rigid with each passing year, so the workshop began without me having any idea what the end product would be.
Encouraged by Tamaru, who said, "It's okay to write anything!", all the participants had fun playing with words.

　　
As they played along, each child created their own favorite story.
　　

　　
During the interpretation part of the work, the participants were first given rave reviews of each piece they had created, and through dialogue they expanded their ideas into new business ideas.
　　

　　
Of course, the ideas born on this day may not necessarily lead directly to business.
However, letting your brain run free like this every once in a while and simply chasing after unexpected excitement can be a very important form of thinking training.

Speaking of training your thinking, the other day I had an amazing experience with my own brain.
While traveling abroad on my own, I was the victim of a minor theft and lost all my valuables. My passport, credit cards, cash, and ID were all gone, and perhaps sensing a sense of crisis, my brain suddenly woke up. When I questioned people around me about the culprit, my broken English began to flow out of my mouth, and when I filled out a theft report at the police station, I suddenly remembered my passport number, even though I hadn't remembered it. At one point, I was worried that I'd have trouble returning home, but thanks to my awakened brain and the kindness of many people, I was able to return home safely.

What this workshop and the travel crisis have in common is that retreat is not an option. While there is a world of difference in feelings—one is excited by Professor Tamaru's praise, the other is tense with their backs against the wall—the situation of having no choice but to move forward certainly activated their brains. Another commonality is the freedom to try out random ideas. Whenever you ask the AI, it always advises you to go to the Japanese Embassy, but there is no reference information on how to get through the embassy's closed days penniless, or what to do if you lose your smartphone charger, your only lifeline, and can't afford to buy a new one. While knowledge is certainly necessary to generate good ideas, perhaps it's just as important to enjoy free thinking without being too trapped by it.

It's quite difficult to always think about things with an open mind, but I want to keep training, sometimes in an exciting way and sometimes in a strict way, and gradually push myself outside the box.

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On the official website of Masatomo Tamaru, who helped us out this time, you can not only read about his wide range of work, but also download free worksheets from the short story writing classes he regularly holds around the country. Please check it out.

Masatomo Tamaru Official Website: A Piece of the Sea