After graduating from a general high school, I enrolled in a sign language interpretation school but dropped out midway. At that time, I didn't have a particular goal in mind, so I helped out with my family's interior design business for about two years, doing tasks like wallpapering. During this time, a friend I met through amateur soccer asked me if I was interested in becoming an engineer and invited me to join an SES company. I had always enjoyed simple video editing on computers, so I became interested. However, I hilariously failed the entrance exam for that company (laughs). Later, another friend introduced me to a local SES company, where I started working.

The trigger was when my admired former boss, Mr. Niwa, transferred to Reazon. At that time, I had become accustomed to the work I was doing and felt the urge to broaden my horizons and challenge myself further. Seeing how my former boss encouraged me to take on various challenges and witnessing his excitement after joining Reazon convinced me that I could enjoy working there. Reazon seemed like a place where I could have fun working.

Right after joining, I was in charge of developing a live quiz app called "PonQ." It was a service where we streamed quizzes in real-time, users would answer them, and we'd draw winners from those who answered correctly to give away local products. Besides implementing the app, I also created quiz questions, managed team tasks, dressed up as characters for live streaming, so it was a busy time as I had hoped for (laughs).

However, the service ended due to my lack of ability and the end of the boom. At that time, I strongly felt that results mattered, and I reflected on the importance of voicing my opinions and encouraging team members to take action. It was a learning experience that contributed to my growth.

I'm in charge of service development for "Menu." I manage a team of about 20 people, focusing on maximizing team output through task management and evaluation. I receive requests for new feature additions and bug fixes from various departments, turn them into tasks, and work to release as many as possible within about a month. Additionally, I propose and implement improvements based on my insights as an engineer, such as improving system response times and accumulating data for user behavior analysis.

In terms of implementation like programming, there wasn't a significant difference, but I was initially surprised by the number of stakeholders. Menu involves many people, including stores, users, delivery drivers, sales, and operations, so I realized that communication skills to listen to people's opinions and summarize them to make decisions are more important than engineering skills.

To be honest, I find it more enjoyable to implement things hands-on, but experiencing management and seeing team members contribute to clients and seeing their happiness is something I appreciate. While the joy of users using the app is significant, the joy of seeing the smiles of colleagues whom I know well and their personalities is even greater. When colleagues are praised in casual conversations within the company, like 'You've been working hard lately, haven't you, Mr. X?' I feel happy seeing everyone's growth. Because I love my colleagues at Reason, my motivation for work comes from wanting to help everyone in the team.

When something happens, I consciously trust and delegate to my team members instead of intervening or taking over myself. Even if I think I can do something faster, it's essential to let my team members try it once to support their growth. Even if I think intervening would solve the problem, I try to observe and support my team members at the appropriate timing after watching their discussions and actions. Also, when summarizing opinions, I make sure to respect not only one person's opinion but also listen to everyone's input to reach the best solution. If my team members grow into capable individuals, I believe I'll be able to pursue other things, so I want to further elevate the team's skill level.

Managing about 20 team members alone can be challenging as I can't deeply involve myself with each one individually. However, we've organized the team structure and appointed two reliable senior members to assist in management, so I believe we can divide the commitment points and delve deeper in the future. I also want to absorb a wide range of knowledge to enhance my management skills.

I think the greatness of Reason lies in constantly providing an environment for challenges and allowing me to feel my growth year by year. Since joining, I've continued to have expectations like, "I wonder if I can work on something new next year," and have been able to enjoy stimulating days. Moreover, because many people are sincerely working hard, I genuinely feel that I want to contribute where I can. Especially, the higher-ups seem to enjoy their work so much that it makes me think that work is their hobby. There's a strong sense of solidarity with those who have faced hardships together, and I find it very enjoyable to solve various issues with such comrades.

When I was assigned to the Menu business, we had a highly talented small team that continuously improved features in a short span through PDCA cycles. Recently, the scale has increased, and we've welcomed many young members. With more people, it's challenging for everyone to approach things from the same perspective, so I believe management skills are becoming more critical. I want to support the team members further to aim for even better service quality and development.

I want to further refine my communication and management skills to become someone who can handle projects with communication challenges smoothly. I feel that Menu's product involves a multitude of stakeholders and is an unprecedentedly complex service. If I can manage this service well, I believe my skills will be applicable anywhere. However, I'm not the type to deeply contemplate my future career; I perceive the future as uncertain. I hope to work naturally, solve immediate challenges, and be relied upon by people who need me as a result."