Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ffirs.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page ii

�

� �

�

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ffirs.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page i

�

� �

�

Business-Do

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ffirs.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page ii

�

� �

�

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ffirs.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page iii

�

� �

�

Business-DoTHE WAY TO SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP

HIROSHI “MICKEY” MIKITANIFounder & CEO of Rakuten, Inc.

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ffirs.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page iv

�

� �

�

Copyright © 2018 by Hiroshi Mikitani. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted inany form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, orotherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States CopyrightAct, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization throughpayment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the Web atwww.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to thePermissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030,(201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their bestefforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to theaccuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any impliedwarranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be createdor extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategiescontained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with aprofessional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any lossof profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental,consequential, or other damages.

For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, pleasecontact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside theUnited States at (317) 572-3993, or fax (317) 572-4002.

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Somematerial included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books orin print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included inthe version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com.For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available:

ISBN 9781119412229 (Hardcover)ISBN 9781119412212 (ePDF)ISBN 9781119412250 (ePub)

Cover Image: Mika NinagawaCover Design: Rakuten

Printed in the United States of America.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ffirs.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page v

�

� �

�

This book is for my partner in life and work and our children.

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ffirs.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page vi

�

� �

�

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ftoc.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 5:53pm Page vii

�

� �

�

ContentsIntroduction xiii

Chapter 0 Clean Your Space 1

Chapter 1 The 10 Core Principles 5

01 All concepts are relative 6

02 Believe in the power of the moonshot 7

03 Learn the difference between a group anda team 9

04 Think about your mindset, skills, andknowledge 11

05 Question yourself 14

06 A brand is a flag 16

07 The internet transformation continues 18

08 The internet will curate the world’sknowledge and data, but the humantouch will still be key 20

09 Taking action leads to deeper thinking 22

10 Continuously improve by a fraction. It’sthe key to what others call “good luck” 25

Chapter 2 Personal Development 29

11 Push yourself like a professional(athlete) does 29

12 Play catch between your left andright brain 31

13 Plan forward from birth or backwardfrom death 33

vii

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ftoc.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 5:53pm Page viii

�

� �

�

viii Contents

14 Create an objective personality whenyou’re in the hot seat 35

15 Never stop learning. Ever 37

16 Build self-confidence through smallsuccesses 39

17 Always be curious and ambitious 40

18 Find a partner to play intellectual“catch” with 42

19 Set clear goals for your actions 44

20 Remember that great information cancome from surprising places 46

21 Don’t rationalize your behavior asothers do 48

22 Interrogate your intuition with hardnumbers 49

23 Aim to understand the framework 51

24 Create solutions that break down barriersand reveal new challenges 53

25 Identify your weaknesses. Fix them orfind workarounds 55

26 Never let your mental energy levels drop 57

Chapter 3 The Value of Relationships 59

27 Offer value-added services. Anything lessis meaningless 60

28 Put yourself in their shoes 61

29 See the essence of things 63

30 Size up risk by quantifying it 65

31 Seek out best practices all around you 67

32 Listen especially closely to people youdisagree with 69

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ftoc.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 5:53pm Page ix

�

� �

�

Contents ix

33 Value the balance between cooperationand competition 72

34 Teaching others will help you grow 73

35 Develop win-win relationships 75

36 Start with good footwork 77

37 Report, contact, and consult 79

38 Analyze the situation from all angles 81

39 Know who and what works, even intight spots 83

40 Be courageous 85

Chapter 4 Get Your Organization Moving 87

41 Numbers give clarity, so set KPIs 87

42 Pay close attention to resource allocation 89

43 Lead by teaching 91

44 Leverage the organization to move faster 93

45 Harness the power of competition 95

46 Share the sense of accomplishment 97

47 Find the bottlenecks 99

48 Create your own turning point 101

49 Meet and revive in the morning 102

50 Think like a manager 103

51 Create and share a template for success 105

52 Earn trust within your company 106

53 Establish symbolic rituals 107

54 Successful organizations combinepressure and excitement 109

55 Know that there are two types of speed:velocity and agility 110

56 Divide into small groups to improvetransparency 112

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ftoc.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 5:53pm Page x

�

� �

�

x Contents

Chapter 5 Win Every Battle 115

57 Analyze and execute with an eyeon the future 115

58 Hypothesize, then create shikumi 118

59 Get things done 119

60 Examine the facts from every angle 121

61 Keep your eyes on what’s at your feet andwhat lies ahead 122

62 Factorize 124

63 Lean operations generate innovation andgrowth 126

64 Think about both vertical and horizontalcompetition 128

65 The Mikitani Curve: Quality depends ona 0.5 percent difference in effort 130

66 Identify what is core and what is mission-critical 132

67 Deciding not to do something can be themost important thing to do 134

68 Companies are sumo rings. They needwrestlers 135

69 Master the timeline 136

70 The devil is in the details 138

71 Success is born of failure. Never hesitateto improve 139

72 Find trends in the numbers 140

73 Think about value chains 142

74 To win, close the gaps and add originality 144

75 No business is special 145

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ftoc.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 5:53pm Page xi

�

� �

�

Contents xi

76 Boost profits by using assets in multipleways 146

77 Strategy, execution, and operation 148

78 No single path leads to success 150

79 Generate the largest cost advantageto win 151

80 Create shikumi that will keepgenerating value 153

Chapter 6 Nurture a Global Mindset 155

81 The essence of e-commerce iscommunication 155

82 Seek information beyond your borders 157

83 Your network is your best news source;media come second 159

84 The internet will eliminate nationalborders. Think global 161

85 Learn from the world’s best practices 162

86 Thinking globally will make you strongerlocally 163

87 Thoroughly and humbly analyze pastsuccesses 165

88 It’s never too late 166

Acknowledgments 169

Index 171

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani ftoc.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 5:53pm Page xii

�

� �

�

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani flast.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page xiii

�

� �

�

Introduction

Dreams are for the young. This is a beautiful saying. But it’swrong. Dreams are the very fuel that moves our society

forward.Although there’s nothing wrong with having dreams when

you’re young, the saying implies that you no longer have timeto dream once you grow up and are thrown into the cold realityof society.

I would argue that dreams are even more valuable as youmove through your life. But as you leave childhood behind,you must do more than dream. Just having a dream is mean-ingless. You must turn your dreams into specific goals, workout the steps necessary to achieve them, and then, one byone, actually take those steps. You have to use everything youhave—your talents, abilities, strength, and perseverance—toreach these goals.

You need skills to realize your dreams. What’s more, youneed a system and a process to acquire those skills and executethem. This is what in Japanese we call creating shikumi—orsystemization. When you pair a dream with a shikumi, youmay reach even the most extraordinary goals.

I had a dream over two decades ago, and I have spentmy whole life since pursuing that dream. The number of peo-ple who have joined me in pursuing the same dream has alsogrown. The company I started with one other person has growninto a company of thousands. And the whole time, I’ve beenconstantly asking myself: How can I best communicate mymethod of achieving dreams and goals? What do you have todo to be truly successful? And what shouldn’t you do?

xiii

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani flast.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page xiv

�

� �

�

xiv Introduction

I’ve put my ideas into words and shared them with mycolleagues many times, and I believe Rakuten is what it is todayas a result of this effort. The company’s continued growth, eventhrough times of global economic crisis, is proof of that.

I share my methods more widely now because we are in anera of great change—a turbulent time when dreams and theirexecution could not be more important.

We are at a time when it’s clear that the internet is not sim-ply a new format—another channel for our existing productsand services. Instead, it is a platform on which transformedindustries will grow and change. The internet has alreadyreconfigured commerce and the media. It’s now far into itstransformation of financial services, turning money from billsand coins into a digitized promise and giving rise to a newindustry (fintech). It’s clear that this is only the start of changethat will move through all industries. What will the next newmajor industry transformations be? Autotech? Pharmatech?Edutech? And as those industries rise up, what new questionswill they raise? As the internet becomes the platform foreducation, of course we rethink the nature of “books” but wecan also ask: What is a teacher? What is a classroom? What is astudent? How does the internet transform these basic concepts?This is true for every industry. We are also seeing the changestake place in transportation. Already we have AI drones andcars. What is next? Even my own job will face change. Will wesee the AI CEO? That’s not so farfetched.

In a time of great change, it becomes that much more impor-tant to have guiding principles. These are not rules that cut usoff from change, but truths that help us navigate it. They aremethods that help us move forward and achieve our dreams.They are principles that give us a system in which to operateeffectively.

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani flast.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page xv

�

� �

�

Introduction xv

This book, Business-Do, is a detailed look at my guidingprinciples, offering specific instructions, stories, and techniquesto help anyone realize dreams and achieve lasting success. InJapanese characters, “Do” represents the “way” or the “path”and it can be used to represent an essential philosophy, spiritor a moral code. You might be more familiar with the term“Bushido” which also uses this character and is loosely trans-lated as the way of the warrior. This book breaks down myfundamental philosophy for business and leadership into use-ful lessons. You can be successful in business as well if youput these lessons into practice. They reflect how I think andact when facing the problems that arise in business. You don’thave to learn all the rules. If you follow the ones that speak toyou, I’m sure the doors of opportunity will open to you.

Don’t be troubled by critics who say dreams and realityare two different things. That’s just a spiteful excuse used bythose who didn’t work hard enough to realize their dreams.Of course dreams and reality are different. But that’s why turn-ing dreams into reality is so worthwhile and rewarding—notjust for the dreamer, but for all of us who benefit when bigdreams become successful reality.

It is my hope that this book helps you realize your dreams.Here’s how it’s done.

Hiroshi “Mickey” Mikitani

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani flast.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page xvi

�

� �

�

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani fpref.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page 1

�

� �

�

0

Clean Your Space

Why do I have a Chapter 0?I was through the first draft of this book when I realized

I would need a Chapter 0—and that it would be about our ritualat Rakuten of cleaning our workspaces.

There is quite a bit of good advice in this book. But if youonly take away one idea, I hope it will be this one: Make sureyou clean your office by yourself.

1

Trim Size: 6in x 9in Mikitani fpref.tex V1 - 01/09/2018 6:49am Page 2

�

� �

�

2 Business-Do

I don’t mean set a time for the janitorial staff to come by.That’s a different issue. I mean: clean your own workspace. It isa ritual that I believe is a crucial building block of professionalsuccess. Sometimes, it is the most basic of rituals that allows usto achieve greatness.

Every week, at the same time in the morning, everyone atRakuten cleans his or her workspace. We take out the rags andspray bottles. We clean off our surfaces. We pick up any trash.We get down on our hands and knees and polish the legs ofour office chairs.

When I say everyone, I mean everyone. You will find medoing this chore every week, without fail.

Why?It is a question I am asked often, since it’s not common for

everyone in a company to engage in this behavior. We do itbecause I know it’s important. In fact, I know it’s critical to oursuccess.

Like many company rituals, this one started in the earliestdays of our company. That’s when Rakuten was just a hand-ful of people in a single room, trying to start something big.Every week we cleaned our humble space. We had to. Whoelse would if we did not?

As we grew, we continued to engage in this ritual—notbecause we had to, but because we came to understand whatit meant. I recognize this is not how many other leaders in Sil-icon Valley behave. Still, even though it is different from othercompanies, I know it is something that is very important to mepersonally, and to the way I want to lead.

For me, personally, cleaning reminds me to be appreciativefor what I have. I often find myself thinking about the peoplewho have supported me in my efforts to build this company.I remind myself, in this one moment a week, that I am luckyand that I should remember what got me here.