When I was working, I often said to young co-workers, “I think you can get mad now. Why don’t you fight with those who demand such an unreasonable thing?”

But in many cases, they just half-listened to me with a half-smile. For they don’t like to cause trouble.

However, I think that’s not a personal problem. Perhaps times are changing, and the way people interact with each other has been changing.

So, I thought, “Oh, you don’t want to fight with anyone anymore”.

When I was young, I had once torn the paper written by the accountant general to shreds in front of him, and he finally backed down on the draft budget he made.

Another day, I was once banned from the office because I stood up to the general manager of a gigantic American company. But my boss didn’t blame me. He said, “You said it! I’m proud of you”.

I talked about these things to my junior colleagues as heroic stories, but they just seemed to think I was a barbarian or an idiot.

But if so, what do they do, when someone did harm to them? Just smile and quit? And terminate the deal? Oh, they are so smart!

Are they going to Fair Trade Commission or Labor Standards Inspection Office, or something like that? Want to see a therapist? Starting to think about changing jobs?

OK. That’s not wrong. But as for me, as for our generation, that was plan B.

We fought first. Fighting face-to-face was a part of our job. Because if you don’t take issue with unreasonable claims, the environment cannot be improved.

These days, Japanese society has been losing its lifetime employment system. But even if you stay only a couple of years in a company, it is still your task to improve your company.

To avoid trouble is a good policy to live. But I don’t think it is the best policy to work.

Am I giving you kind of outdated instruction at all? Maybe the whole world is changing.

But it is every one of you that can change the world for real. If you say nothing, nothing can be changed.

Despite this, won’t you fight with anyone anymore?