Seiko Shirasaka: The Power to "Think About Thinking"

Are you familiar with the term VUCA? VUCA is an acronym for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. We are said to be living in the VUCA era, a time when the future is unpredictable and things do not go according to plan. In other words, ways of thinking that worked in the past no longer apply today, or will cease to apply in the near future. The speed of this change has become incredibly fast. Until now, it was enough to learn a successful way of thinking and repeat it. From now on, even if you learn a way of thinking, it will quickly become obsolete. Furthermore, as the concept of the "100-year life" suggests, human lifespans are increasing. If the age of university graduation is 22, one works for nearly 40 years after graduation and lives for another 40 years after that. What we must acquire in such an era is the more long-lasting "power to think about thinking."

To "think about thinking," two major, distinct abilities are required. One is the "power to decide the goal to aim for." This can also be called the "power to formulate questions." The other is the "power to design how to achieve that goal." These two powers have been treated as completely different fields. However, in the current VUCA era where environmental and technological changes are rapid, one cannot set a goal or judge its feasibility without knowing what technologies are available and how they can be used. In other words, it has become necessary to handle what were previously two different fields in an integrated manner. Furthermore, because current situations and environments are completely different, the paths toward a goal also differ entirely. This is precisely why "thinking about thinking" is necessary.

For example, even for something as simple as "coming up with an idea for a new healthcare service," few people have a framework for deciding whether to start with brainstorming, fieldwork, or searching for existing services on the internet. However, these are things that can be learned and mastered.

For the sake of the coming era, I intend to continue advancing research and educational practices so that more people can acquire the power to "think about thinking."