Expanding imagination to "transform"

Next to me is choreographer Papaya Suzuki. In front of me are dance studio instructors.
In this setting, here I am discussing dance instruction methods. You might wonder, why is an advertising planner doing this? Of course, I have absolutely no dance experience.

Actually, I'm currently involved with a new dance studio venture by the education company "Seiha Network." Their core business is English language schools, with over 1,000 locations nationwide. They aim to leverage that expertise and network to make dance studios their second pillar.

Since 2014, under the name "Papaya-style Dance Academy," we began dispatching instructors to kindergartens and nurseries and opening branches in shopping centers. Now, nearly two years later, we've grown to nearly 200 locations and are approaching 10,000 students.

Going further back, to the fall of 2010. I had a casual conversation with Papaya Suzuki, someone I had known for some time. He expressed concern about the situation: dance was set to become a compulsory subject in junior high school physical education starting in the 2012 academic year, but there were very few teachers capable of instructing it.

"I don't want to create any more kids who hate dance..."
Without proper instruction, the joy of dancing and the fun of creating choreography wouldn't effectively reach the children. He wanted to share the experiential knowledge and methodology he had built up over years of teaching young dancers and singers as a choreographer.

Hearing this, I immediately approached planners within Dentsu Inc. and formed a creative team. We began exchanging ideas with Papaya Suzuki on systematizing dance methods. This wasn't a client request; we launched the project spontaneously.

It evolved step by step: iPhone app → book → dance class

Each of us thought independently, then gathered to brainstorm ideas, discuss them, and converge on solutions. To test these, we entered the studio and physically moved our bodies. Based on the successes and failures there, we all thought again. Repeating this process many times over six months, we shaped it into a method.

This process gave birth to the dance method " Kazufumi-kun." Simply stepping (fumi) on mats arranged in a square pattern, each marked with the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 (kazu), allows anyone to easily master basic dance steps. First, master ten foundational patterns like "Left, Right, Right, Left" or "Both Feet, Both Feet, Left, Right." Link these together to a specific tempo. Keep the upper body free. Doing this naturally moves the body and builds the foundation of dance.

To launch "Kazufumi-kun" to the world, we developed an iPhone app. Our team handled its design, copywriting, and development. After release, Asahi Shimbun Publications approached us about publishing a book. It hit bookstores nationwide in April 2012, just in time for dance becoming a compulsory subject.

Furthermore, after seeing this book, Seiha Network reached out to us. This led to the development of a curriculum based on "Kazufumi-kun," connecting back to the story at the beginning. Because of these events, I, someone with absolutely no dance experience, gained the opportunity to speak to classroom teachers about the concepts and ideas behind it.

Don't just let things that catch your attention slip by

Starting from casual conversation, something that was nothing at all takes shape through everyone bouncing ideas off each other. That then becomes content and transforms into business. The first step to savoring this thrill is simply to think. To work your brain over and over, persistently. You must break through common sense and fixed notions, letting your imagination run wild.

To do this, daily preparation is crucial. In your everyday life, carve out small pockets of time to ponder various things. Set a topic and practice focused idea generation. Why not incorporate "mental gymnastics" – stretches to loosen up your often rigid mind – into your routine?

For six months from May to October, we hold classes on the fourth Friday of each month via the online video learning service " schoo WEB-campus." There, three planners from Dentsu Inc. publicly demonstrate idea-generation training in an improvised comedy style. We also reveal the "idea generation methods," mindset, and secrets that form the template for these mental exercises.

The idea-generation session in last month's July 22nd class focused on the theme: "Business cards that spark conversation even at first meeting." Incidentally, Dentsu Inc. employees can choose their favorite color from 100 variations for their business cards.

When exchanging business cards for the first time, simply mentioning the color creates a small talking point. Furthermore, conversations can flow easily based on the reasons each person chose their card—whether it's their personal image color or the corporate color of a client they handle.

It's a simple idea, but it leaves an impression on the other person and conveys the company's creativity. The accumulation of these small, real-life experiences—where a tense, formal situation can be transformed into a relaxed one through a clever idea—helps us employees truly appreciate the importance of ideas.

If you notice something that catches your attention, think "Wouldn't it be nice if there was something like this?" or "Wouldn't it be better if we did it this way?", don't let it slip away. Instead, turn it into a topic to think about. Sometimes, just setting aside a little time for this becomes a "mental workout." If you're lucky, you might actually change something with the idea you came up with, giving you a small sense of accomplishment.

Following "Extremization" and "Partial Conversion," the third approach is "Transformation."

Now, let's introduce a few ideas born from this online class.

In business, your business card is like an extension of yourself. When someone you've given it to looks at it again, you want them to remember more than just your email or phone number—you want them to remember you. Thinking about how to convey that sentiment through a business card led to the idea of designing a part of yourself at actual size. Handing it over with the line, "Actually, this is my right eye," is sure to leave a lasting impression.

When you want to liven up a conversation with someone you've just met, you're bound to look for common ground. Maybe we're from the same hometown? Share the same hobbies? Are we the same age? If you're both just imagining things and getting frustrated, why not make the business card itself a checklist? Even if you don't find common ground, it could spark conversation topics and get the conversation flowing.

In our online classes, Dentsu Inc. planners brainstorm ideas in real time, but we also get everyone participating to think along. This is our third session, and each time, the number of ideas submitted grows, making it more exciting. Many people jot down five or six ideas. However, the speed at which planners generate ideas is overwhelmingly different. They come up with dozens of ideas one after another within an hour.

Why can they do this? It's because they've mastered unique ways of thinking through diverse experiences. In this series, we introduce various thinking methods as templates for "mental exercises" each time.

Following " Extremization " and " Partial Transformation " from previous installments, this time we cover the third method: "Transformation." Even if it seems impossible, try personifying things, replacing them with different people or creatures, or comparing them to objects or phenomena... This method involves generating ideas by "transforming" things into people, or people into things.

Look around for things created through "transformation"

As a mental exercise, it's effective to analyze things already around you by asking, "What kind of thinking led to this?" Alternatively, finding examples likely born from "transformation" is also good training.

Characters frequently seen in anime, merchandise, and advertising often originate from this "transformation" concept. A prime example is Mister Donut's "Pon de Lion and Friends," created by Hiroyuki Horiuchi, an art director at the Kansai Branch Marketing & Creative Center, who also takes online classes with me at "schoo WEB-campus."

Transforming donuts into animal characters. By finding and visualizing commonalities between donut shapes and animal bodies, and including the naming, they appeal to the product lineup with a fun and adorable worldview.

Take "Kazufumi-kun," introduced at the beginning. This naming is also an anthropomorphization, essentially a "transformation." It was conceived after hearing from Papaya Suzuki that "avoiding words like 'dance' or 'dancing' would help break free from conventional imagery and make it more widely embraced by everyone."

Watching TV commercials with this perspective can lead to many discoveries. A well-known example is SoftBank's Father Dog. By transforming a human into a dog, it instantly became synonymous with SoftBank.

Analyzing these examples makes you realize that imagination is the origin of idea generation. Popular characters and hit commercials are born from such flights of fancy – like seeing animals in donuts or wondering what if Dad were a dog.

Imagination is a latent ability everyone possesses. As we grow into adults, opportunities to exercise it diminish, and it gets locked away. That's why I recommend incorporating mental exercises into daily life to actively create time for daydreaming and fantasizing!

The key is whether you're keeping your mental switch turned on.

"Do you have any recommendations for places or environments conducive to generating ideas?"
I received this question during an online class. People often say ideas flow while relaxing in the shower or bath, or that creating a stylish brainstorming room in the office helps... The relationship between location, environment, and ideas is a frequently discussed topic.

My answer is that location and environment matter little. Dentsu Inc.'s offices don't have designated brainstorming rooms; desks and meeting rooms are perfectly ordinary. Yet ideas are produced in abundance even in such environments. So what really matters?

I believe what matters is whether you're prepared to think immediately, anytime, anywhere, during those little pockets of free time—in other words, whether you've got your mental switch turned on. That's precisely why ideas suddenly pop up in the shower, toilet, or train. Archimedes didn't just happen to have his epiphany in the bath; he'd been thinking about it constantly, so it was inevitable he'd figure out the principle while bathing.

To flip my mental switch on, when given a specific topic, I hole up in a cafe and focus intensely, thinking solely about that one thing. By cafe, I don't mean a fancy place, but a casual chain spot. I don't have a particular favorite shop either. Since I can't concentrate for too long, I aim for about an hour.

Doing this once puts the idea in the back of my mind, where it continues to simmer unconsciously. Then, in a sudden moment, the idea surfaces. This is akin to mental gymnastics. If you train your mind regularly, it will perform when you need it most. The human mind is a remarkable thing—if you just give it the maintenance it needs, it will respond reliably.

The fourth online class for "schoo WEB-campus" will be held this week on Friday, August 26th, starting at 7:00 PM. The theme for the Oogiri (comedy improvisation) session is ideas to "make more people want to vote." If you're interested, please join us.