It was about six months ago, when it still was cold outside. Mr. Iwata, president of Nintendo came to our office. Mr. Iwata and Shigesato Itoi are old friends. He helped us start up "Hobonichi". Sometimes, when he visits Tokyo on his business travels from Kyoto, Mr. Iwata drops by our office after work.
One day, Itoi got a call from Mr. Iwata that he'll stop by. Itoi suggested everyone to eat together, so we ordered delivery and had a nice supper.
What he talked about that small meal was astonishingly interesting, we decided to put it together as an article. (Luckily we have a culture of recording interesting conversations.)
Please enjoy the 11 articles from that evening.
1. The Definition of Idea
Itoi Remember talking about the definition of "idea" before?
Iwata The words of Mr.(Shigeru) Miyamoto, right?
Itoi He said that ideas are "something which solves multiple issues at once". This notion seemed eye-opening to my staffs. Can you explain us a bit more about the intention of his words, and your analysis of it?
Iwata Those words came out when we were designing a video game software. I think Mr.Miyamoto said it as an example of a method for designing video games. I actually perceive this as a very versatile concept, which can be applied to many aspects of life.
Itoi Uh-huh.
Iwata There's always the dilemma of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" when creating something. There are options that improve the product, and there are also options that work the other way. The thing is that you barely have cases in which there exists only a single problem. You usually have problems occurring everywhere, lots of them.
Itoi Yes, yes.
Iwata I'm not talking solely about designing a product. The same happens in organizations, or in personal relationships. Presenting a single antidote for a single problem doesn't get you anywhere. It always causes side effects. It sometimes even raises trouble to issues which were fine until then. People come up with many suggestions, but usually it only gives a solution to a single problem, and only that. A project doesn't advance much with a solution like that.
Itoi I know what you mean.
Iwata Often times, the game not being entertaining enough are the problems you face when designing video games. The more ideas put in, the more fun it brings forth, and people enjoy the game more. However, the amount of time and human resources that can be put into creation is always limited. It's not realistic to simply propose "more" of something when you have limitations. Sometimes, one single idea solves one problem, then another, and even issues that were thought to be totally unrelated.
Itoi That does happen sometimes. (to the staffs) Interesting, isn't it?
All (laugh)
Iwata Mr.Miyamoto is constantly trying to find that kind of "idea". I mean, constantly. Persistently. One day he called me up suddenly, it was when I used to live in Yamanashi. (Mr.Iwata had been president of HAL Laboratory, Inc., which is located in Yamanashi Prefecture) Do you know what the first thing he said was?
"I got it!"
(laughing) I had no idea what he was talking about.
Itoi (laugh)
Iwata What he "got" was an idea for a game we were designing together. This idea was something that solved multiple issues, all at once.
Itoi That's what he called an "idea".
Iwata Exactly. One single inspiration that makes so many things work. That's what you call a "great idea", and finding that moves things forward, moves it towards the goal. Mr. Miyamoto thinks that it's the game director's task to find those "ideas".
Itoi He didn't actually say this, right? You've picked this up working with him for a long time, observing his ways.
Iwata Yes. I've seen him "get it" many times. Through those instances, I've come to learn his emphasis on that method, and how he guides projects to goals using that method.
Itoi That's really interesting. (laugh)
Iwata This really isn't limited to game design. The world is full of "damned if you do, damned if you don'ts". You call it "trade-off". Everyone is confronted with trade-offs. The more budget, the better. The more human resource, the better. The more time, the better. That's obvious. However, doing the obvious means doing the same thing with everyone else. That doesn't nurture competitiveness.
Itoi It becomes a matter of who does it more.
Iwata But when you find a solution by combining issues, the more unique it is, the more value it brings. When Mr.Miyamoto said "that's what you call an idea", it came to me. It's such a concept that applies to various aspects of life, so I really wanted to incorporate it into my way of thinking. I remember talking about this the other time we met.
Itoi If you're looking for a solution that solves only a single issue, and not multiple issues, it's easy.
Iwata It really is.
Itoi (Pointing at Sato sitting next to him, and Nagata sitting across him)
See, if Sato's life is in danger, it's easy to find a way to save him at the cost of Nagata's life. The more leeway an enterprise or an organization has, the more they tend to choose such solutions. They solve issues one by one. First they save Sato, then they realize Nagata's in danger, so they choose to save Nagata, and on and on.
Iwata By putting in an endless amount of time and energy.
Itoi Exactly.
Iwata Everyone can solve problems one by one. "If there's too much of something, just make it less", or the other way around. That's just responding to each issue. For example, if a customer complained at a restaurant that a dish is "too much", what is he/she really saying? Maybe the real problem may be how the dish tastes, and not the amount.
All Ah....
Iwata If the chef only sees the amount of his dish as the problem, changing the amount doesn't solve anything. He has to be able to find the real issue and improve the taste to truly solve this problem.
Itoi That's true.
Iwata When you dig deep down until you hit the root of the problem, you sometimes find that what seems to be isolated matters are actually connected. A single change can have impact on matters that were thought having no relation. Different problems can be solved at once. When a single idea solves various matters, those are the times when Mr.Miyamoto "get it", and calls you up all of a sudden. You have a much clearer vision when you "get it".
I got this from here: http://www.1101.com/iwata/index.html
The rest of the article will be posted in the following days, one part on each day.
