Having my envelope pushed.

Three years ago, I spent most of my time shut away in a library or computer lab and I was happy. But I could feel myself slipping down the scale from loner to complete recluse. Then I got this job in HR and now everything I do these days is social. Most people that know me well couldn't believe that I'd be doing a job where all I do all day is deal with other people and their problems. To be honest, I couldn't really believe it myself.

Now two years later, the job continues to push me well outside my comfort zone. There have been many times over the last few weeks when I would gladly have locked myself away again in that library! But I guess it's good for me to force myself out of my shell and do things I normally wouldn't dream of doing. Let me give you a rundown of some of the envelope-pushing tasks that have been thrown at me over the last two weeks:

The 'comedy' presentation
Our company was asked to participate in a recruitment event at a very prestigious university here in Tokyo. The other presenters were the real big hitters - the international management consultants,the super banks, the big trading companies and the like. So, a relatively small company like ours had to do something a bit different to stand out from the twenty or so other quite stuffy presenters. To give you some background, the company I work for is originally from Osaka, Japan's second city; famed for its food, the business acumen of its people and its comedy duos! Another bit of info. - one of the well-known comedy duos over here is 'Pakkun and Makkun' made up of an American guy and a Japanese guy. Also, please bear in mind that I work for a medical company. So taking all this into account, my company's presentation became me and my boss (Pakkun and Akkun), acting out a doctor-patient skit in an effort to explain exactly what it is our company does. All this with my boss dressed up as a nutty-professor-style doctor - white coat, comedy wig, the lot - and me acting out the role of patient. Honestly, this type of thing is my idea of hell and, in normal circumstances, I would rather die than have to go through such public humiliation. But I was only told a couple of hours beforehand that I'd even be going to the event, never mind acting the mickey on stage, so I didn't really have time to get all that fussed about it. And in the end it was all worth it because we managed to snag a great MBA who I think we will hire this month, and we're now looking into the possibility of running a internship program, which wasn't even on the cards before that night.

The magazine interview
This was another task that came out of left field. So I get told one morning that a recruitment magazine used by students over here was coming to do a spread on our group - interviewer, professional photographer, the whole works. The interview was fine. It was one of those cases where I could mostly imagine beforehand what they were going to ask me, so I had some answers half ready in my head. But the worst part was by far the photos. They were never-ending. And it was all this supposedly 'natural' stuff - the group having a meeting, the group looking out a window, the group walking through the corridor. And all the time, the photographer kept saying, 'Just forget I'm here!' Yeah right, some chance! In the end, my boss and colleagues came out looking really well, and the ensemble photos weren't bad either. The natural shot of me on my own? Imagine Mister Bean doing an impression of a seal clapping and you get some idea of the horror. So...not...fair.

The press release
So this was the real biggie of the last few weeks. My company has just signed an agreement to acquire a company in the US. This is a substantial acquisition for us and will have a big impact on our company culture. I was asked to help out with the project (in a very small way) there a while back, and I couldn't say anything to anyone about it, not even to my colleagues. It was all very hush hush. I was responsible for the English-language press release and it was a very long and stressful day getting that thing ready to be sent out. I lost count of the times they changed what they wanted to say, and of course, they were telling me all the details in Japanese so I was terrified I would mistranslate some vital statistic. It all got done in the end though, even if I did look like I'd been dragged through a bush backwards by about 10pm. So much so that I had random colleagues coming up and asking me if I was okay. Looking back on it, it was pretty exciting, I have to say. But now the real work starts as we (again with just tiny involvement from me) basically have to set up a whole new company from scratch by December 31. I am shaving off all my hair today so that when the next big stress comes I will look less like I stuck my finger in a power outlet.

Anyway, the above are some of the reasons why posts have been thin on the ground of late. I'll try to do better.