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April 10, 2000
WORKING
HARD, HARDLY WORKING
AND DYING FOR WORK
Congratulate me -- I'm starting a new job this week, as director of content for a an exciting new Internet startup company called TamTam.com, a cross-border e-commerce company that will serve as an international marketplace for goods and services as the Internet becomes a global medium. There's a lot to do, and I'm excited to get started.
| Growing up, almost anything could be ignored if it was because of work or school -- even family gatherings. |
I've worked for several Internet companies since 1996, so I'm used to the frantic pace, the challenge of constant change, and the sustained level of hard work that the "new economy" requires of its soldiers.
Although I suppose the "Asian work ethic" is a stereotype, I have tried to live up to the stereotype (my mother might disagree with me on this one, however). But these days, I'm a little more wary of the long hours that I normally dedicate to my work.
My thoughts are with a fallen general in this war of work: Keizo Obuchi, the hardworking prime minister of Japan, who was stricken by a stroke on April 1 and has been in a coma ever since. The cause for his collapse is given as stress and fatigue from overwork. Because of his condition, Japanese leaders have elected a new prime minister, Yoshiro Mori, and a new cabinet has been installed.
Obuchi was the longest-serving prime minister in Japan since World War II and the Allied Occupation of the country. Although he was initially criticized upon his election as having the personlity of "cold pizza," he must have been doing something right. He built coalitions within the battle zones carved out by politicians and the bureaucrats who run Japan, and although he had been criticized for various gaffs as any world leader will be, he was quick to learn from his mistakes.
In fact, that sense of duty may have led to his stroke.
Critics had assailed Obuchi last year for his handling of a nuclear accident, so when the volcano Mount Usu began spewing smoke and ash, the prime minister stayed at work for days on end. He had been planning for an upcoming Summit of Eight meeting of world powers in Okinawa, a profound move since the island state hosts the heaviest concentration of U.S. military in Japan. Plus, he was juggling political demands both internally within his Liberal Democratic Party and the broader coalition he had built to run the country.
It doesn't surprise me that he worked that hard. I was raised within a culture that accepts selfless devotion to work as a given. Growing up, almost anything could be ignored if it was because of work or school -- even family gatherings. "I have to work" was a catch-all excuse for a lot of things that didn't get done or sentiments that didn't get said.
And I've taken that ethic to extremes at times, working too-long hours for employers who ultimately didn't care, not that I needed the pat on the back, at the expense of family, friends or personal growth. I always felt I was cheating if I wasn't being super-productive, or taking charge all the time. A lot of time that just meant I wasn't willing to delegate the workload, and I was bgin a poor manager. Instead, I chose to take on a lot of the work and play both the hero for doing so much, and the martyr, for the same reason.
Now, I know better.
Being middle-aged has given me a better insight into my own life. I know that I'll work hard for TamTam.com, because I'm sure I'll love the work, the company and the people I'll be working with. But I also now have priorities that need to coexist with my work life: My private life, my personal writing projects, my friends and family, and a simple appreciation of the world around me, from the great outdoors to the arts.
I plan to excel at my job, and without sounding cocky, I think I'll accomplish that. But I also now plan to excel at being a good human being too.
Japan has already seemingly recovered from Obuchi's tragedy without skipping a beat. A new government has things under control. Mount Usu hasn't blown its top yet. The Nikkei, the Japanese stock market, continues on its course recovering from the economic crisis of a decade ago. The country has moved on.
I feel bad that Japan won't miss him. That's why I've been thinking of Obuchi, lying in a hospital bed with his wife Chizuko by his side. I'll continue to think of him as I start my new adventure, and not forget to work hard, but play hard too.