Why "Suspending Judgment" is Necessary

On mornings for business trips to Osaka, udon is the only choice. Slurping down the amber broth makes hangovers disappear. At the workplace where I head with a clear head, I often work alongside Art Director Riko Ishizaki. Behind her gentle demeanor, her keen observational eye always shines brightly.

Ms. Ishizaki

For example, during her student days, she chose "skin color" as the theme for her graduation project. This was the name of a color that disappeared from society after becoming controversial due to racial discrimination when Ishizaki was in the lower grades of elementary school.

It's easy to simply agree, "Yeah, that's wrong. Right, right," and leave it at that. But Ishizaki didn't stop her thinking there. Starting from the perspective of "What is the true 'skin color'?" she analyzed various "skin colors" – from dolls and anime characters to the national representatives of Miss Universe – and based on that, she even created her own crayons.

What do you think? The "skin color" expressed here seems rich in diversity, while simultaneously showing the difficulty of generalizing the real world. It's a problem-raising approach that's very Ishizaki, imbued with kindness.

Now then.

While "mental stagnation" is the enemy of creativity, the initial step of "circular thinking" that generates concepts—the feeling mode—actually encourages "suspending judgment."

At this stage, you must first gather information that can spark that "Oh, that's an idea!" moment. When doing so, you must accept each piece of information without judging whether it's "right or wrong," thinking instead, "Well, that's one way to look at it. For now, hmm, hmm."

Spinning Thoughts

In business, many people likely believe it's far more efficient to base thinking on "facts that leave no room for doubt" to produce solid output.

So why is it better to "suspend judgment"?

The reason is that the true nature of the "concept" we seek is a "new perspective that overturns conventional wisdom." To create such a perspective that overturns common sense, "correct information" alone is insufficient. Information that seems "suspicious" from the perspective of existing common sense is also undoubtedly necessary.

Starbucks would never have been born from just "common sense" and "correct" information like: "Turnover is crucial for coffee stand management," "Cheap coffee is what people want," or "Franchising is the best way to make a profit in restaurant management."

Even seemingly trivial complaints, like an acquaintance might say, "Even if I suddenly have free time, my company and home are far away, and I have no place to go downtown," were accepted with a simple "Hmm, I see" – and that's precisely why today's success exists.

Yet in reality, we often see examples of people struggling precisely because they don't understand the necessity of "suspending judgment."

For example, when developing a new "restaurant concept." Some people bring in data like "five clusters classified by consumer behavior" from one source, prepare "seven points common to rapidly growing restaurants" from another, and then try to force ideas by multiplying them together – thinking about 5×7=35 possibilities.

Considering that many combinations might give a sense of accomplishment—"I did the work"—but the results often fall short of expectations. Why? Because both the "five clusters" and the "seven points" here represent perspectives that don't deviate from conventional wisdom.

To generate truly outstanding concepts, you must be prepared to equally embrace both sophisticated statistical data and common street talk.

Well then.

On a business trip to Osaka, going out for drinks is the only option. Knowing that a hangover-induced mental shutdown is the enemy of idea generation, I still put my faith in the power of udon for breakfast...

Please, help yourself!

Actually, the cover illustration for my book was also created by Mr. Ishizaki.