Ask Iwata: Words of Wisdom from Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's Legendary CEO

by Satoru Iwata

As human beings, unless we have someone to compliment our work and enjoy what we’ve created, we’re not apt to go out on a limb.

This is why I spent my first month as president interviewing everybody at the company. The discoveries were endless.

It was during these interviews that I realized that decision-making means gathering and analyzing information and managing priorities, and that as you discover your priorities, you should see where they take you as you work through your decisions.

the whole point of a company was for people to work together toward a common goal by combining their strengths, I should clarify our goal.

This is why I think that management depends on an ability to minimize your personal agenda.

I may no longer be a programmer, sitting down with everyone and writing programs, but I’ll always count myself as one of the creators.

Management means figuring this out and leading the company in a direction that helps everyone’s strengths flourish and keeps their weaknesses in check.

The number of things we should be doing is always greater than what we can actually do. If you try doing everything on your list, you’ll only wear yourself out.

In my experience, there are two types of interviewers: those who make a person feel at ease in order to get a sense of who they really are and judge their candidacy accordingly, and those who believe an unrelaxed person, though unable to speak their mind, will reveal all kinds of things about themselves, like how sociable or strong they are.

When I’m speaking with somebody at the company for the first time, I begin by asking, “What made you decide to join Nintendo?” Because this is a question anyone can answer. Whatever the case may be, they’ll have some kind of reason, and since the question is about them, there’s no wrong answer.

“Out of all the work you’ve done so far, what was the most interesting thing? And what was the most painful?”

At the end of the day, what the company wants most from its new hires is someone who is happy to admit they don’t know everything. But at the same time, they don’t want you to ask your coworkers the same questions over and over.

If you can do it all yourself, you might as well, but if you do, the possibilities will be limited by your time and energy.

You might realize that somebody is making a mistake, but unless you can advise them in a way that they can readily accept and comprehend and fit into their point of view, your advice—right or not—is meaningless.

If you force yourself to study things that have no bearing on the world around you, the material will have no way of sinking in. So, rather than waste your time, it makes far more sense to prioritize the things that you truly enjoy, whatever speaks to you.

As a general rule, I’d rather play to my strengths than do something that I’m bad at.

When the mood in the workplace sours, it can make a good thing fall apart.

feeling useful to others and knowing somebody enjoys my work is what gets me through the day.

When Miyamoto hears someone state a reason something is impossible, he counters with the question, “What would it take to make it possible?” And from there he establishes the necessary conditions. This is about “cornering the opponent and jabbing at the weak points they can’t block.”

When working on a project, I’ve found that what really counts is not what you add, but what you throw away and what you decide to leave out.

it’s reassuring when other people bring strengths you’re lacking to the table.

When he stepped in to fix a problem, he joined the project as a new member of the team, taking great care not to step on anybody’s toes or dishearten anyone involved.

A good name takes on a life of its own, even once the group or organization has dispersed.

When making a decision or starting something up, rather than trying to accomplish everything yourself, it’s better to create a group or team with a name that makes the group’s objective clear, and work things out together.

You might be doing everything you’re supposed to do, in terms of company and interpersonal responsibilities, but if nothing has been solved for those depending on you, all you’ve done is provoke their anxiety.

Iwata also coined the phrase “Programmers should never say no,” which later became infamous. Iwata was worried that the message had taken on a life of its own and caused a lot of people grief, but obviously this was not what he had intended when he said it. Rather, he was saying something like “It’s our job to think up ways of giving ideas shape so that Itoi can feel free to share his vision openly.”

Anybody, man or woman, who you can spend a lot of time alone with is probably a decent person.

I always want to find a way to be involved. In every case, I’d rather be involved than be a bystander.

cringe at the thought of acknowledging a chance to be involved but staying out of it, telling myself, “I know if I chipped in, things would get better, that I could make a positive contribution, but I don’t think it’s worth the effort.”