On May 26, the OKUYAMA Masayuki Seminar at the School of Political Science and Economics hosted a special lecture on the theme “Industrial Clusters × Reframing,” aimed at exploring new perspectives and ideas on industrial cluster formation. The event featured guest speakers Andri Hinnen, a leading practitioner of reframing complexity* from Switzerland, and Gregory Glanzmann, a Japan-based organizational consultant for large companies.
*Reframing complexity: An approach for gaining new insights and developing solutions by shifting perspectives on increasingly complex problems, rather than attempting to simplify them
Hinnen is the founder of Zense, a Swiss consulting firm that helps companies through reframing methods, and currently serves as a lecturer at his alma mater, University of St. Gallen. He has also worked in film as a writer and director; his feature-length documentary Unter Wasser Atmen (English title: Breathing Under Water) won the Audience Award at the Zurich International Film Festival in 2011.
Hinnen demonstrated in his lecture how reframing techniques – storytelling, metaphors, and visualization – can be used to effectively communicate complex issues.
Glanzmann illustrated how metaphor techniques can be applied to build an effective storyline with an exercise, using the example of a German automobile industry cluster in which he was directly involved. Participants then engaged in group work, using reframing approaches to explore potential solutions for issues related to semiconductor and AI industrial clusters in Hokkaido.
Building on this special lecture, the OKUYAMA Seminar plans to incorporate reframing methods into ongoing regional projects, aiming to enhance regional contributions and support student development.
