30 Years in Japan - A life journey

At the end of July, I hit 30 years in Japan.

This was not part of some "life plan" - when I got here, I intended to stay one year to "change direction."

For a guy who studied Human Physiology and thought he'd go on to be a University professor, I guess I did just that, landing at Google leading Search partnerships (after 5 years leading Maps partnerships).

Three things struck me as I reflected on this journey:

1. My first years were very analogue

When I came to Japan in 1994, the company I work for now wasn't even yet formed. That means I had no Google Maps to tell me where I was and how to get around, no Google Search to give me all the information about how to survive in Japan, no YouTube to give me the daily highlights of my favourite shows, sports, or other entertainment, and no Google Translate to help me communicate with people in the town of 1000 I found myself living.

Instead, I had a series of paper maps and a lot of landmarking to get around; my mother sent me the Toronto Star once a week so I could catch up on local news from Canada (albeit a week old); I looked forward to "Little House on the Prairie" as my English tv respite, and studied hard with workbooks and trying things out in Japanese (only to get laughed at and someone kindly correcting me)

2. Lean into what you do well

I recently listened to a podcast by Scott Galloway where he talked about his book, "The Algebra of Wealth." People who tell you to follow your passion are wealthy enough to do that. Follow what you're good at and it will serve you well, leading you to have the time and space to follow your passion. While I enjoyed my year on the island in Hiroshima (Osakikamijima - a fantastic location that I can now re-live using Streetview on Google Maps!), I couldn't see myself continuing to be an English teacher.

I wanted to move up to Tokyo, but the job opportunities for me at the time were teaching English conversation at an "Eikaiwa" school, or taking on a role as a scientific journal editor as a small translation, rewriting and consulting firm. While I was not a great bench-top chemist, I was good at synthesizing the research into journal ready publications. I leaned into this role, and helped develop new internal processes and we grew the company 3-fold in the 5 years I was there. This led to me being offered a role at a start-up, but 1999 turned into 2000 and "pop went the bubble" and so too did the role.

3. Find the right time to pivot

I didn't always get this one right, but timing is truly everything. Your first few years in any role are your "learning years" - you will likely get the most out of your role during this time and grow the most as a result. After that, if you have a growth mindset, you need to assess whether you are still growing/learning in the role. There are a few signals that can help you determine this:

• Do you wake up excited about work, or dread going in?
• Have you looked around at other roles and considered how those sound to you? If it looks interesting, have you at least had a conversation about it and thought about whether it excites you enough to consider it against your current role
• Is there a pathway for you to continue to grow and get better at the role, or are you leveling out and "coasting" a bit.

I have to admit, in my own career path, I haven't had a clear image of what I wanted to do next, but I kept my ears and mind open and have been fortunate enough to find a path that both challenges and fulfills me.

Thirty years on, I still feel fresh, challenged and decent at what I do. Add that to a family that makes me proud...what more could I ask for?