Learning from the Best

Looking back, I was greatly inspired by one of my big bosses at work exceptional command of multiple languages and his astonishing speed in completing tasks. One day, I happened to come across his back-to-office mission report and immediately made a photocopy of it for my reference. I genuinely wanted to learn from and emulate his report writing style, including its format. As a result of adopting his writing style, I definitely improved and became faster in writing reports compared to before. In Japan, there is a term called "Shuhari," comprised of three Kanji characters: Shu (learn), Ha (break), and Ri (create or innovate). Shuhari illustrates the three stages of the learning process, progressing from the beginner level to the professional level. At the Shu stage, you begin by faithfully following the teachings of your supervisor to acquire the basic techniques and forms. In the Ha stage, you assimilate techniques and forms from other schools or supervisors and strive to integrate them with what you have already learned in the Shu stage. Finally, at the Ri stage, you distance yourself from your supervisor and focus on developing your own new techniques and forms to become an authentic professional or master in your own right. I am aware that you have also gone through this process at work. As for myself, it goes without saying that I was nowhere near my boss’s level of work ability and speed.