Translated from 日本語 • View original How much do business people need outside of their specialty, or even liberal arts? I would like to introduce Karakul's efforts in the liberal arts.
By the way, what is liberal arts?
From Wikipedia Liberal arts (English: liberal arts) * It has ideological origins in ancient Greece and Rome, and in the European university system from the Middle Ages to the late 19th century and the 20th century[Annotation 1]It is the seven liberal arts and liberal arts that were regarded as "the basics of the skills (arts and techniques) that people need to have". Specifically, it refers to the three disciplines (trivium) of grammar, rhetoric, and logic, and the four departments of arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy[Annotation 2] and music[Annotation 3]. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%AA%E3%83%99%E3%83%A9%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%84 **Originally, liberal arts seem to refer to a very wide range, including geometry and astronomy. **
It is difficult to have comprehensive knowledge so far, and I am not confident at all, but here I would like to write about liberal arts in a light sense, such as "general knowledge outside of my specialty".
Karakul is recommended for liberal arts!
Many people may have the image that having liberal arts will enrich their lives.
So, is liberal arts necessary for work?
**At Karakul, you are encouraged to have not only your area of expertise, but also a wide range of business knowledge and, for that matter, liberal arts. **
Until now, I have written several blogs called "How to increase my market value".
In order to increase your market value, it is quick to sharpen your expertise for the time being.
However, in order to level up in the medium to long term, you must not be a so-called professional idiot. To do this, I believe that it is necessary to develop non-specialized business knowledge and liberal arts.
Also, it is very embarrassing that a company like Karakul, where foreigners are included in the team, cannot explain "what Japan is" in terms of politics and economics.
Aiming to be a global team is one of the reasons why liberal arts are necessary.
Young people who don't read newspapers
"If you are a business person, read the Nikkei newspaper."
I say this, especially to young people.
Any newspaper is good to some extent, but I think that Nikkei, which has a lot of economic articles, is the first newspaper that business people should read.
By the way, all newspapers have a so-called political ideology. Some people even say that "newspapers lie", and articles should not be taken at face value. Therefore, while using Nikkei as the axis of information, it is recommended to read a wide range of articles, including other newspapers and magazines, and the Internet.
If you don't improve your knowledge until you reach that level, you will easily be brainwashed by some ideas, so take your time to raise your knowledge level.
I digress. . .
But many people don't read newspapers.
When I asked why...
- You can find out enough news on the Internet
- It costs money (the net is just that)
- troublesome, lack of time
etc. will come up.
By the way, I don't think there will be a very bright future for business people who can't invest about 5,000 yen a month and pay for social games and manga.
Why the Internet is Not Enough
This is because, to put it simply, the information is biased. **In the newspaper, we deal with what the newspaper thinks we should know now "largely". **
On the Internet, basically all of them are the same font and the same size.
In addition, the Internet makes it easier to find articles that reflect your tastes, both in a good and bad way. Conversely, you will hardly see anything that is outside your interest.
So in my opinion, you need a place where information is provided without being customized for you.
Preferably on paper. Otherwise, we recommend the pattern of reading on paper online.
Of course, in this day and age, the Internet is the mainstay of information. I think it is good to combine analog and cohesive newspapers and other paper media with the Internet where information is fast and can be deeply explored.
How can you become stronger with liberal arts?
Today's world is said to be VUCA, an era where change is fast and the future is uncertain.
The market is changing rapidly, and your skills that were valuable in the past can quickly become obsolete.
For example, lawyers and certified public accountants, which have been typical of high-end occupations until now, are expected to be replaced by AI in the future.
If such people do not know such a situation in the world, the day will suddenly come when they will be told that they are not needed in the market in the future.
**But if you have knowledge in the world, you can take measures. **
By going to a lawyer x IT or combining them, you can create scarcity and have a chance of survival.
IT engineers are also included.
Most of the technologies that are popular today are obsolete after 5 years. You have to live while changing.
For example, if "non-coding" becomes mainstream, the demand for engineers itself may decrease. But people who can design will become more valuable people than they are now.
If you only look at your own area of expertise, you will not be able to grasp the overall movement.
Also, imagine if you become a manager in an organization, and then become an executive and have to talk to the executives of other companies.
The other executives are not always in the same specialty as you.
If the other person talks to you about the trends in the world and you can only give a completely blunt answer, the other person will think, "Ah, you're a low-level person."
On the contrary, people think, "I'm sure everyone in a company where people like this are executives is of a low level."
I think liberal arts are not useful for pinpointing, but rather to support our careers in the medium term.
I tried the Nikkei test
I've been talking about all the things, but most of them are ignored by everyone, so I took a little hardline last year. Laughter
I had all Japanese people take the Nikkei test, which is a general knowledge test conducted by the Nikkei Shimbun. As a result, people who were below the general knowledge level must have been impatient, and those who were not as high as expected may have been a good opportunity to be more conscious and try to improve their knowledge.
It's a karakul that is open to everything, but I didn't disclose the results as expected.
However, the callers who are too accustomed to openness are using the "[Goalous]( on the company's SNS. https://www.colorkrew.com/goalous/?utm_source=why-do-we-need-the-liberal-arts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=owned) I posted my results one after another, so I knew most people's scores.
I'm afraid of Karakul's open spirit.
Is it me?
A foreign member I always talk to told me, "Keiji's results will be announced at TGIF," so of course I was almost forced to make it public.
I was a little frustrated and a little happy that someone with a higher score than me proudly posted "I won!"
I have become like a Nikkei newspaper spinner from the middle, but I would like to tell you that it has nothing to do with it. Laughter