I seldom get to visit bookstores these days, and that is probably true for other people as well. We have seen the rise of online bookstores, Amazon being the prime example, and further, more and more people are reading digital books on devices like tablets or smartphones, like with the Kindle. The fact that people these days commonly acquire information from non-book sources, like the internet, also seems to be playing a part in this. The impact of these social changes has left less room for establishing a brick-and-mortar bookstore business, and this has led to a decrease in the number of physical stores, which in turn has reduced opportunities to visit bookstores.

　There used to be a large bookstore called Yaesu Book Center near my office, but it closed last year (they say it closed for redevelopment and will open again in the future, but I wonder whether it would be viable to continue a bookstore business in such a prime location in front of Tokyo Station).

　I used to go to a bookstore about once every two weeks. There were, of course, times when I went because I wanted to buy a certain book, but more often than not, I wanted to go to see if there were any books that looked interesting. Bookstores were not only places to go with a specific book in mind, but also places for discovering great reads. The act of browsing in a physical bookstore served as a connection between providers of information and those seeking it—an intermediary function. Amazon seems to be taking steps to replace this intermediary function, such as enhancing the information about books online, but it has not thus far been able to beat the real thing, the browsing function that brick-and-mortar bookstores provide. Seen in this light, the decline of traditional bookstores is lamentable. On a personal note, I at least hope that the Maruzen Bookstore location within walking distance of me manages to survive.

　With that rather lengthy introduction out of the way, I would like to set down my impressions of one book that I bought last year when I went to the bookstore for the first time in a long time to stock up on reading material for the New Year’s holiday. The book is called “Rumsfeld’s Rules,” and looking at the back, it was published at the end of July 2023. I don’t know if there was any buzz about it, but seeing it there was the first I’d heard of it. Many of you may be familiar with the author of this book, the titular Rumsfeld (deceased), a prominent American politician who served as Secretary of Defense in the Ford and Bush (W.) administrations.

　The title refers to “Rules,” but the content may be more accurately described as exploring “The Mindset of a Leader in an Organization.” Rumsfeld’s experiences in leadership roles in some of the world’s top organizations, and the thoughts and insights that emerged therefrom, are profoundly instructive. For example, here is a passage:

“One of my biggest mistakes as Secretary of Defense was leaving the U.S. Army with less than satisfactory leadership for too long a period of time. The Secretary of the Army proved to be a problem. Tom White, a former Army brigadier general, seemed to see his job as representing the views of the Army to me, instead of being the President’s (and my) representative to the Army.”

　Even for companies, the perspective of the entire company is different from that of a single business unit. Having an opinion is no doubt better than not having one, but if it comes from a narrow view, caution is warranted. It is only after considering things from a broad perspective and then focusing on what is of high priority that good opinions that do not come from such a broad viewpoint are adopted. As a leader of an organization, I am often surprised by how many people are naively unaware of such matters, and I found myself nodding in agreement.

“In large bureaucracies especially, the tendency is to automatically recruit someone to fill a position as soon as it is about to come open. Of course the more people you have, the greater the cost and the greater the distance between you and your employees and customers. Wise managers stop, take a breath, and consider whether that slot really needs to be filled at all. (Omitted) Don’t automatically fill vacant jobs. When a dedicated employee retires after fifty years on the job, wait a bit. See what happens. You might find he was doing a job somebody else already at the company could do, or a job that no longer needed doing.”

　This also provides wisdom. This sort of thing often happens not only in large bureaucracies, but also in small venture companies like ours. Why is there any need for what we were doing yesterday to be the same as what we are going to do? There is also this passage about people.

“A’s hire A’s. B’s hire C’s.”

“You can tell a good deal about the quality of a manager or leader by the people he brings in as members of his or her team. For whatever reason there seems to be a pattern. Effective leaders—A’s—tend to attract other A’s, smart and talented people, who in turn create a culture of excellence. By contrast, B’s hire C’s, and even some duds who could generously be termed D’s. One reason for this is that B’s are not comfortable hiring people who might outshine them. There is an old saying, ‘Follow the money!’ In this case, follow the A’s.”

There’s no need to add anything, so I’ll leave it at that. To think that I would never have picked up this book if it wasn’t for a physical bookstore!

Finally, I would like to say this. In addition to trusting their intuition, accepting criticism and learning from it, and avoiding complacency, it is important for leaders to seek divine favor. ”Luck is also a part of skill.”

Book referred to: Authored by Donald Rumsfeld, translated by Koji Iguchi, “Rumsfeld’s Rules” (Odyssey Communications)

Hirotaka Shimizu
Chairman and CEO
Kamakura Shinsho, Ltd.