Macroscopic and microscopic

When I was a university student, I used to think that I would like to engage in a job through which I could add a valuable contribution to the realization of a better world. I did not hope to spend my time in conducting superficial things in exchange for salary in my future career.

Six years has passed since I graduated my school and started working at a consulting company. So, one question is “Am I doing and delivering valuable services to my clients?

In addition, as a result of my service, our society goes to a better direction?” Of course, no one knows an answer to my question.

From the macroscopic point, our Japanese society becomes worse than six years ago. China has overcome an economic competition over Japan recently. We experienced the large earthquake and tsunami as well as the nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant and distributed a large amount of radioactive substances throughout the eastern part of Japan. The disaster on 3.11 is already and will more strictly tight our national budget in the future.

From the microscopic point, some of my works, which I completed for the period of the six years of my career, satisfied my clients’ needs, and such types of experiences have strengthened the confidence in my management and technical skills. Even I may have satisfied my clients’ needs in some of my past projects, the situation surrounding Japan got worse in the macroscopic context.

After all, individuals can do a very little thing in our society, but I would like to keep doing my best performances in my professional career in the future.

Efficiency and System

Mainichi Online kindly published a Japanese translated full text of the 2011 International Catalunya Prize speech delivered by Haruki Murakami in Barcelona, Spain. Though I tried to find an English original full text of the speech, the original one seems to be protected under some licenses.

In his speech, he concentrated on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear accident, and criticized “Efficiency” penetrating our Japanese society as a crucial origin of this nuclear accident.

I remembered another speech delivered by Haruki Murakami in Jerusalem, Israel in 2009. In this speech, he criticized a battle occurring in Gaza at that time, and generalized a root of the battle, and arrived at a metaphor “Egg and Wall”. Egg is individuals, and Wall is “System”. According to the speech, the Egg is always confronting the Wall called System.

I am an engineer, and one of the fundamental missions of engineers is to improve “Efficiency”, and other one is to establish “System”. “Efficiency” and “System” are always in my head. Inefficient events or disorganized structures imply potential needs or potential clients.

Efficiency should be improved and systematic management should be also introduced in our society. However, we should also consider a factor called timescale together with efficiency and system.

Nuclear power generation is indeed highly efficient compared with solar power or wind power generation if we focus on a short timescale. With respect to a much longer timescale, say 100 years or 1,000 years, nuclear power generation must be inefficient. Over this longer timescale, nuclear power plant accidents may occur. Once a nuclear power plant accident like the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accidents occurs, the nuclear power plant happens not to be under our control. From this point – a longer timescale, nuclear power generation is not efficient and not systematic one.

--from here, wrote on June 12---
I made a mistake.
Haruki Murakami made the speech in Japanese.
Youtube contains a broadcast of the speech.

Since he made the last presentation in English in Israel and I feel that his writing style is influenced by English cultures, I thought that he had made the speech in English in Spain as well.

I think that Haruki Murakami wanted as many as Japanese to listen his speech, thus, he decided to deliver it in Japanese.

--until here, wrote on June 12---

Work of an Environmental Consultant

I am working as an environmental consultant and I had an opportunity to make a presentation regarding my profession at the office of CSIJ the other day. It was a nice opportunity for me to summarize what I have been doing so far in the field of environmental consulting services.

In the beginning, there is no legal definition of an environmental consultant, so that anyone who wishes to become an environmental consultant could become an environmental consultant and call themselves as an environmental consultant without any authorized permits or licenses. In this sense, an environmental consultant is different from an attorney. Anyone who hopes to undertake the professional work of an attorney requires a legal certificate of an attorney.

Since there are not any legal definitions of an environmental consultant, environmental consultants have been working in a variety of fields and I am no different from them. I have been working for three different types of clients. The first one is governmental offices, the second is manufacturing companies, and the last one is financial institutions. Those three clients are conducting totally different types of business, however there are demands for environmental consulting services in the three different sectors.

Governmental offices request environmental consulting firms to conduct various kinds of research or supports in order for the offices to develop, implement, and promote environmental regulations. In this modern time, regulatory frameworks of environmental regulations become so complex that no governmental agency can proceed with their jobs without helps of private consulting firms.

On the other hand, there are also demands of environmental consulting services from manufacturing companies, especially which expert their products to foreign countries. Now is the globalization age, so products could be circulating all over the world. Manufacturing companies have to confront environmental regulations when exporting products and placing them on the market in the host country. Each country has its original environmental regulations on import products. Regulatory frameworks which restrict import activities are so complex that a good number of companies call for the support of environmental consultants.

Financial institutions hire environmental consultants as well. Such financial institutions do not actively invest money in a company or a project which violate environmental good practices. Environmental consultants are then requested to conduct environmental audits to evaluate environmental performances of a company or a project when financial institutions decide whether or not to invest money.

In the near future, I think that environmental regulations on a household sector will be strengthened because there are currently little restrictions on the use of energy and materials against the residential sector. If so, demands for environmental consulting services will be created as well. In such cases, my clients will be not only business operators, but also a consumer. Retail business seems interesting, too.

A Terminal Point and its Beyond (1/2)

I visited my one of my old colleagues yesterday, and talked with him about on-going and prospective business-related topics. He is ten years older than me, and has been working as an environmental consultant for a long time. His comments on environmental issues is based on his years of experience, and I learn much from the discussion with him.

We discussed recent topics on air quality management policies in the world. During the discussion, I asked him to give me his comments on a prospective terminal point of the air quality management policy.

I have been engaged in various types of consulting services on air quality management policies since I started working. From my experience, I have reached some basic ideas.

Firstly, the current air quality in Japan seems to be cleaner than 50 years ago. While Japan had been experiencing high economic growth in the late 1950s to mid 1970s, severe environmental pollution had occurred during that period. The Yokkaichi asthma is one of the most identified incidents. Residents living on the leeward side of a large petrochemical industrial complex in Yokkaichi city had had a high tendency to get severe asthma. Some were killed by the air pollution, and others suffered from permanent damage.

The air pollution, including the Yokkaichi asthma and other pollution occurring in Japan at that time, triggered the Japanese government to establish The Air Quality Control Act in the beginning of 1970. In accordance with the Act, industrial factories in Japan started to regulate their emission of air pollutants. The Act has been revised again and again since its establishment, and the air quality has been cleaned accordingly.

Pictures of air in Yokkaichi, Kita-Kyushu, Kawasaki, and other industrial areas in Japan taken during the 1960 to 1970 remind us of the very fact that air was indeed highly polluted by the emissions from industrial complexes. In addition, the monitoring data taken by the Ministry of Environment shows that the concentration of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides (the two most common air pollutants) has decreased since that time. Although much more (for example, a regulation for the emission gas from motor vehicles) still remains to be done, I sense that the air quality has become cleaner than 50 years ago.

On the other hand, when I traveled to Mumbai this May, I found that the air quality had deteriorated compared to Tokyo. After that trip, I suffered from a constant cough for about two weeks. I had the exact same experience when visiting Beijing in 2006. I stayed there for about one week, and my respiratory system did not work normally during the stay. Both the air in Mumbai and Beijing were not clear, and there were identified dusts hovering in the air here and there. Although I have never been to Asian countries except for India and China, I assume that the current air quality in other Asian megacities such as Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok is more or less the same as in the Mumbai and Beijing.

These facts and assumptions lead me to reach the conclusion that the air pollution in Asian countries other than in Japan is our primary concern, and that the air pollution in Japan is the secondary one. In this sense, the air quality management policy in Japan is at the near stage to its terminal point. The Japanese government has its know-how to overcome the past severe air pollution, and it seems like good idea that the government distributes its knowledge to Asian countries in order to strengthen their capacity.

My former colleague acknowledged my ideas, and provided me with his comments. However, I have already written much, so his comments will be updated in my future blog.

Poor Creativity versus Demanding Workload

I have started to work at a new place since the beginning of December. The place is my client office, and I have been staying there and supporting my client’s work. The client’s office is close to my company, thus my commuting time remains the same. However, since people and milieu in the client office are different from my office, I sense that some more time will be required to adjust myself to the new place. Probably, if I were to change my current job and work at a new company, I would sense a similar necessity for the adjustment.

I have been in the client’s office during the daytime. After that, I have been in my office for handling ongoing projects other than the client’s ones. Last November, I managed to complete the ongoing projects, or transfer them to my colleagues if they were not completed. Over the past month, my business schedule has been filled up and I have been contacting my colleagues, boss, clients, and contractors to complete or transfer the tasks.

Today is Saturday, and I am in my home. I am good in terms of my body, but I feel a lack of satisfaction with the very fact that today is a holiday. I am feeling burnt out. I do not find the books, which I wanted to read, interesting.

However, this feeling is similar to the one which I have felt after an achievement. The feeling of an achievement has satisfied myself, and, thus, after the achievement, I have not had an urgent motivation to undertake any activities.

Demanding workload provides me with good opportunities to strengthen business management skills. However, if the workload exceeds my capacity, then my holidays become days in which I do not initiate creative activities but instead spend it relaxing.

Current Status

I attended an annual conference of “The Society of Risk Analysis Japan” over this weekend, and I made a presentation on the theme of material management at a section meeting. About one and a half years have passed since I joined to study the theme. After the presentation, I felt relief to find the time to contemplate a blueprint of my future activity.

On the other hand, after the conference, without any specific purposes, I searched my past colleague’s name on Google. I found one blog which she has been constantly uploading. According to the blog, she is currently working at a United Nation’s organization as a technical expert. She lives in Geneva, and has traveled for business to Asia, Africa, North America, and Europe for the past one and a half years.

When she was in my office, she said “my friends tell me that I have been lack of energy since I started working at this office.” After a while, she decided to leave my office, and entered a graduate university. She received a doctorate from the university, and started her career at the international organization.

We hit it off at first sight. We were both freshmen. I dropped out of graduate school, and she wanted to join graduate school. I explained that I lost my psychological balance when I was in university. She said that she had been energetic when she was in her master’s course.

I am vividly working at my office. I do not have a doctorate. In addition, I am in a domestic private firm. Compared with her current career, my current status seems less stimulating. However, I am vigorous now. My personality is suitable to my current job.

Motivation for Work

When I took a walk with my friend on a holiday several years ago, we talked about each other’s motivation for working. I explained that my motivation for working was based on my curiosity about environmental issues. She said that she understood my answer very well.

She knew that I'd had a difficult time finding my current job. During my job hunting time, I applied for various kinds of industries and occupations. Every application was rejected except for the one with my current company.

I had intended to hold an academic position during my student days. After graduating from university, I entered a graduate school. After obtaining a master's degree in grad school, I became a doctor candidate. However, at this stage, I dropped out of my academic career.

I realized that I lacked the wisdom necessary to be a scientist. I thought that if I had become a scientist, I would have ended up conducting tedious studies in order to mass produce academic papers. What I had wanted to do was not to increase the number of academic papers, but to pursue the fundamental mysteries of the nature.

I am currently working as an environmental consultant at my company. My fundamental mission at my company is to earn a profit. Thus, a concrete numerical goal is imposed on my annual working plan. If I fail to achieve the goal, my remuneration will be reduced accordingly.

In order to achieve the goal, I need various capabilities. One of them is a deep knowledge of environmental issues. I have been curious about environmental issues since I was in university, though my expertise was biophysics in my grad school.

Therefore, I need to study environmental issues to widen and strengthen my environmental consulting service. I study it according to my curiosity. I think this is a good cycle.

When I became too tired due to being overworked in my office, I sometimes felt irresponsible for my work. However, every time such a situation occurred, I was reminded of the fact that this profession was exceptionally suitable to me.

Writing

I came back to my home by walking from my office with my younger colleague. She has only about 1 year's working experience. When talking with her, I realized that I was no longer a freshman.

She said that she found it difficult to write business documents. If she could have a better ability in writing them, she said, then she would gain more opportunities to broaden her horizon.

When I was a freshman, I had a similar frustration to hers. I was terribly bad at writing business reports. Logic was not well constructed, and an adjective and an adverb were not placed in suitable positions in one sentence. My boss and my senior staff member often pointed out that I should improve my writing ability. I had an aspiration to obtain a better writing skills. I thought that if I could have the skills, then I would have more chances in my future carriers.

However, I have not been trapped in such frustration at least for the past year. During that time, I did not even remembere that I had such frustration. Although I have experienced many problems and confronted difficult situations in my business, I have not ascribed the origin of those problems to my poor writing skills. Instead, I have realized that communication skills were as equally important as personal skills such as writing skills. In the years ahead, I will realize other important factors which will be needed in my future business activity.

Work and Life

The term of "work and life balance" has been prevailing in Japan for 3 to 4 years. This is easy to say, but difficult to accomplish. This term implies that the more we work, the less we have time with our family. Thus, we are expected to work in balance with our private life. Accordingly, the quality of our work will increase.

However, although I do not have any strict reasons, I do not agree with this movement. To begin with, I cannot accept an easy-to-hear phrase like this one. There must always be hidden a negative effect when someone distributes easy words.

I understand that overwork does not guarantee a good job. However, I want to say that work should be managed not by the government or society, but by oneself or individual organizations. Imposition of an ideology will reduce the width of our individuality.