Added Value

Company ain't no school is a TV series drama from Japan with the backdrop of Gyarou and startup culture. The main character was a famous Gyarou who founded an infleuncer agency but one day after visiting a book shop, he was drawn to a venture company book and its CEO Sawabe Susumu.The main character, wanting to learn the inside of 9-5 and its CEO, joined the place. Apparently, corporation culture wasn't something he expected and the CEO wasn't exactly the kind of person as illustrated from the book.

The main character basically coined that phrase, company ain't no school which means it's OK to do anything as long as the goals are met. But that isn't really something I am about to talk about rather the idea of the Added Value inside the series.

I find that intriguing because it resonates with today's culture where if we want to sell something, goods or services, chances are somebody else has been in the business longer than we do. Hence, in saturated market, something unique that can differentiate our business to others is an added value.

Let's say there are two bakery. The core concept is the same, they sell bread. But how can you be better than that bakery? What is the added value in bakery A against the bakery B? is it the form of payment? is it the main ingredients? Even within those tiny fragments of similarities, there can be things that differentiate us between others which can be called our "added value".

This topic has been the main headline in my brain for a while now because not only seeing it in series, my friends and I have been discussing about added value a lot.

What can we offer to others that is uniquely us?

I don't just talk about the positive moral values that we're often imposed to. I am also talking about all the seemingly "negative" traits which can actually be an added value in the right industry.

In some industries and places, while it might not be too apparent but to put it simply, Do you have that it takes to lie? Do you have what it takes to be shameless? Do you have what it takes to be ruthless?

Because here's the thing,not everyone can do that nor they can be shameless. In the right place and the right industries, all those thing can seem like "added value" because as much as not everyone can be loyal/transparent, neither can they be shameless or ruthless.

But certain people might need the positive traits that you have. Such as loyalty, transparency or other added positive value that you can offer to others where you're entering a place where it's lacking.

For as long as I remember, I always wanted the utmost originality. As in, I have to be the inventor that changed the world or simply,starting a business nobody has tried before or so I thought for the longest of time.

The thing is, nothing is new under the sun and it's only modification and adding flairs to mundane things that ever exist.

Everyone follows where the market and money are. They don't care if it's a copycat of previous things. This is where I used to struggle a lot because I view utmost originality and I would never copy something that has been done until I learned that to actually find something original, I just have to comb through all the things that has been done before, try and see where the things are lacking.

I don't necessarily have to create something entirely new. I can deliver a product but with fresh addition, new voices, new perspective. Just think about how many fried chicken brands out there and each of them has different flavors and menu to them. The main core is that they sell "Fried Chicken".

This is a part of my AHA moment recently and I learned to slowly let go of the idea about "utmost originality" and it's so freeing that I am not shackled to try new things and just do it with my own added value and flairs to it.