2019.8.20

断捨離英語の表現、目からウロコ

昨日の採算、不良資産の処理、断捨離の英語です、いつものようにQAスタイルでお送りします。

Kondo-Mari, Danshari, and Asset Disposal

In Kyocera philosophy, Mr. Inamori* spend several chapters for interpreting accounting principles. One of those principles is encouraging earliest disposal of assets which are highly unlikely to produce more revenues. This article spends some time for the philosophy of disposal developed under Japanese culture.

Q: Who is Kondo-Mari and tell us what she did ?  

A: She has got quite famous as the author of a book, by which we can learn how to organize our environment. In other words, her book is a guideline how to identify items we need and how to dispose stuffs we don’t need. This is not only for materials or stuffs but also for your mental blocks, ideas or positions that you have stuck with.

Q: What do you mean by Danshari?  

A: Originally, it was used by a famous Yoga master, Masahiro Oki. Dan means to cease to take toxic/ unhealthy foods to our body. Sha means to dispose unnecessary stuffs in your environment. Ri means to leave what you have been obsessed. This phrase has something to do with the Buddhism philosophy and demonstrate us how to deal with difficulties in our lives.

Q: What does Mr. Inamori encourage us to do for keep healthy accounting system?

A: He says we have to dispose assets that are unlikely to generate revenue any more. For instance, the molds which were developed for a specific customer and for a specific good, once the order has been completed, are less likely to be used again. Mr. Inamori first tried to keep those molds to minimize downtime when the next order comes. However, relying on such uncertain future order surely accumulated stocks of molds as fixed assets or fixture and negatively affected to the balance sheet. Therefore, Mr. Inaori decided to depreciate those assets in short term and dispose them as soon as they can.

Q: What kind of impact can we expect from this asset disposal?

A: Mr. Inamori reminded us of the objective of disposals; we should not dispose assets depending on the financial results. Namely, we should not control our profit by disposing assets. We should dispose assets depending on their expectation to bring positive outcomes. Then once we figure out this asset is no more in use to produce the revenue, we should dispose/ depreciate it in as short term as possible.

Q: Thus, what are the lessons learned from this episode? A: Regardless of the scenes in our lives, disposing assets that we don’t need any more, as well as leaving the ideas, concepts, or beliefs that we have stuck with would work for us to create the better outcomes not only in business (career) and also in our private lives. At the end of the day, we are always seeking the most positive and happiest outcomes in our lives. For us to do that, I feel leaving materials is quite important for us to flexibly adjust ourselves to dynamically changing environment.