In Evolutionary Thinking: Mutation and Adaptation to Create Surviving Concepts, design strategist Eisuke Tachikawa explains the mechanisms of creativity in the context of lineage through biological evolution. He asks how large Japanese companies should see themselves and evolve. Mr. Tachikawa wears black in a nod to kuroko. These stagehands in traditional Japanese theater, who generally wear black costumes to blend in with backgrounds and imply that they are not part of the action. He thinks that designers should aspire conceptually to be kuroko. He spoke about creativity and diversity in terms of the future of the Japanese market with Mayuko Seto, chief human resources officer at Ricoh Company, Ltd., who believes that human resources units similarly play kuroko roles on corporate stages. Mr. Tachikawa and Ms. Seto recently met to discuss their ideas.

Time for people to rethink their connections with companies

Business Insider Japan:The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed businesses and livelihoods. What changes have been most profound for you?

Tachikawa: Countless things have changed on micro and macro levels. It was particularly noteworthy that some ecosystems recovered in the absence of human activities. All of the resources we consume depend on the environment, and we have relentlessly exploited nature’s bounties. But are these resources sustainable? We have to consider the value not just of creating and developing civilizations but also of pulling back from them. We have to change because reality says that we are living unsustainably.

Seto: The pandemic was an opportunity to rethink what is most important and how we do our jobs amid teleworking and other advances. Many people may have spent more time at home and found the connections between themselves and their employers fading away. Their companies may not be of paramount importance to them. That isn’t necessarily bad for companies. In fact, it seems quite healthy.

Tachikawa: I am working on a volunteer project to combat infectious diseases. Some 300 journalists have joined me in this initiative, getting the story out for free. I can pursue this part of my purpose in life without seeking or wanting financial compensation. I have connected my purpose and my company so my work is not simply about paying bills. Even if a company is not what’s most important to you, you can still link it to your purpose in life.

Seto: Companies can provide employees with things like money, opportunities for self-realization, and titles. But our jobs shouldn’t just be about getting paid. Among other things, we want fulfillment through work. I believe everyone must acquire the skills to cultivate such satisfaction.

What connects individuals and companies?

Tachikawa: It’s reasonable to ask why companies exist. This is because they all surely start out with visions. Blue chip corporations had clear social roles when they emerged. In Japan’s case, this was to help the nation recover from the ravages of war. Social settings and nature inspired the founders of such companies.

But the raison d’etres of many corporations have frayed over the years. These organizations will likely need to reaffirm and reframe why they exist to overcome the challenges of contemporary change. When we accept how individuals, society, and corporate purposes connect, our actions no longer seem futile because we feel part of a powerful current.

Seto: Should individuals find their purpose or should companies frame it for them?

Tachikawa: You can find it yourself or the company can provide opportunities. For example, we can chronologically detail why Ricoh has done so much throughout its history. You trace its corporate lineage because its new achievements build on past ones. I wrote about this phylogenetic, or evolutionary history, approach in my book. If you have a process for understanding that what the business does connects to why it was established, individuals will probably take notice. If not, then keep hammering away; you need to provide opportunities for enlightenment.

Seto: If employees frame their purposes, companies may hesitate to interfere because they may be unsure what results from the processes.

Tachikawa: Managements can shape risks by exploring or ignoring corporate purposes. Royal Dutch Shell, did something about its purpose by setting up a scenario planning unit to address the probability that its core businesses would eventually disappear. Knowledge can shape action.

Seto: Today exists through connections with yesterday. We reach tomorrow through today. But if our current vision for the future is unlikely to materialize, then might we need to recreate our purpose instead of simply reframing it?

Tachikawa: If you look back at Ricoh’s purpose, for example, you find people needing color copies and online data for basically similar reasons. Selling multifunctional printers just deals with the how of getting information. When you think of why you would want to popularize these machines the question then becomes how you want to disseminate information throughout society, leading to an unchanging purpose.

Seto: I see. So, the purpose stays the same but the how is reframed.

Evolution is impossible without mutations

Business Insider Japan: How does diversity drive corporate changes and evolution?

Seto: Eisuke, in Evolutionary Thinking you described similarities between creativity and the process of outliers evolving through mutation and adapting to societies. When companies want outliers through diversity, the pathway would essentially be one of adaptation. But companies inevitably have very limited time to decide on the commensurate cost-effectiveness, goals, evaluations, and remunerations. Are there good and bad adaptations in all this?

Tachikawa: That’s a profound question. In my book I wrote something along the lines of creation, like living organisms, becoming valuable by adapting to conditions and enduring. You confirm adaptation by considering its inner (anatomy), outer (ecosystem), past (lineage), and future (prediction) components. When considering a good adaptation, you need to view all four components equivalently. That’s particularly so because business to date has tended to be more about anatomical efficiency and markets.

Seto: People frequently try to promote workplace diversity on the basis that employing more women will incrementally increase creativity. I don’t like that rationale it means that in an absence of creativity payoffs that you don’t need to change—that you don’t need more diversity. There ought to be more women even if productivity were to drop in the short term, not least because there would likely be long-term gains.

Tachikawa: The notion of mutation deals with the four adaptation components that I mentioned earlier. Diversity should be less an equality issue and more one of good contingency planning. Companies may see hiring women or adopting other ideas as costs but over the long run failing to do these things may make it impossible for these organizations to survive imbalances between social and internal changes.

People once saw environmental responsibility as a cost. It is now a positive factor in attracting investments. Ecosystemically speaking, companies need to operate more like society expects them to and mirror society .

Business Insider Japan: We’ve learned that diversity causes mutations and that it’s important to treat the four adaptation components equivalently in making choices. We’d like you both to share your visions and challenges.

Tachikawa: Given that the economy is on an unsustainable path, I want to use design perspectives to help resolve a range of social issues. There are various ways to do that, such as by proposing designs and creating frameworks. I believe that if we connect these things a new vision for society will gradually emerge. I hope that this will create a world in which we can all collaborate to produce a social model that is a bit better than today’s.

As it’s important for us all to be creative, I’m trying to educate as many people as possible in theoretical and practical ways to embrace change.

Seto: As Eisuke indicated, it would be better for companies to help their people consider about corporate and individual purposes and to fully accept outliers and prepare for the future. One takeaway from today’s conversation is the extent to which companies are prepared to undertake such efforts.

I reflect a lot about relationships between companies and individuals. My life theme is to work out how to equalize those connections. There are all sorts of ways to achieve equality, and I look forward to exploring paths to such a future.