Habitat Update — Aug/Sep 2018
Anecdotes from past events and a guide for upcoming activities in the Kansai region.
Not only is summer the season of many festivals but also the time for vacation — at least on the northern hemisphere. And so you can observe waves of tourist from various countries, speaking different languages, and struggling with different aspects of local behavioral standards in Japan.
Cultural struggles are not exclusive to tourists in foreign countries but a common issue to tackle in multicultural teams in business. With a growing population of foreign employees in Japan the topic of managing a cross cultural team is becoming more and more relevant to success. This goes for large corporations as well as startups. Makers Boot Camp — the hardware experts from Kyoto — recognized this and made it the topic of their meetup in August.
The highlight of the evening was certainly the lecture by Darren Menabney, HR professional and professor at GLOBIS, presenting the common pitfalls when managing team culture and how to tackle them. One interesting exercise everyone can and should do is to figure out your very own cultural profile and how it matches the average of your team using the following survey by Harvard Business Review: “What’s Your Cultural Profile”
The relevance of an appropriate organizational culture was also one the many topics discussed at this year’s Kyoto Startup Summer School (KS3). Over 30 participants from all corners of the globe got together for a hands-on crash course all about the startup industry and useful methodologies to successfully build your own business.
This was the second edition of KS3 — started in 2017 and organized by KYOTO Design Lab — and I am sure it won’t be the last one. The program not only offers participants the chance to gain practical entrepreneurship knowledge from industry experts but allows them to do so in a unique set-up in the cultural capital of Japan.
In that sense, it is very important from time to time to leave your comfort zone and to experience different realities. Not only does it allow you to grow personally but moreover it enables you to discover new opportunities. This is also part of the core values of the Habitat Meetup events. And the past month we organized a two part series to support local students in their pitch preparations for the national Hong Kong Cup pitch contest, where Japanese students get the chance to be selected as ambassadors to promote Hong Kong in Japan.
We enjoyed the very interesting and diverse project ideas of the many students who attended the meetup as presenter and hope the feedback they received helps them to work on their presentations for the contest in September: all the best!
If I got you excited now and if you too are looking for events, contests, and workshops to participate in this September, look no further: Please find below a list of events for you to attend in the upcoming weeks and don’t forget to follow The Habitat on Twitter and Facebook to not miss any announcements and updates from the startup ecosystem in Kansai.
Thank you!
Upcoming Events in September 2018*
*Order by date. Please click on individual event-link for details. The list is subject to change with ongoing updates.
- The Monthly Osaka Makers Meetup (Sep 08— evening, Osaka)
- Habitat Drinks (Sep 13 — evening, Osaka)
- Build Your Own Landing Page in 2 hrs — Le Wagon Tokyo/Kyoto (Sep 18 — evening, Kyoto)
- API for beginners — Le Wagon Kyoto (Sep 20 — evening, Kyoto)
- Creating A Marketing System (Sep 26 — evening, Osaka)
- Hacker News Kansai Meetup (Sep 28 — evening, Kobe)
- Kyoto Makers Garage Anniversary Party (Sep 29 — evening, Kyoto)
Did we miss anything?
Let us know and we see that it is included in a next update!
Criteria:
- Takes place in Kansai region (Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Nara, …)
- Related to entrepreneurship, innovation, startups, …
- Is held in English / features English content
Thank you!
