The Boiling Frog Theory ゆでガエル理論

英語の後に日本語が続きます。

Is he being boiled to death?

Some years ago, my company decided to transfer certain staff to another group company. I was one of them, but I didn't think it would be a problem. It was part of a usual reorganization process. Nothing would change—or so I thought.

It was just one week before the deadline for signing a transfer agreement that I learned there would be no place for me in the group company because of my seniority. I would have been clearly pressured into quitting—not immediately, but within a few years. I’d seen many people being transferred from one department to another and quitting during reorganizations, but I never expected that it would happen to me. I had to decide within a week whether to accept their request (which is technically a request but in practice an order in Japan) or refuse it and fight the company to stay.

Then, I remembered the boiling frog theory. My dad, who loves these kinds of stories, told me about it when I was a kid. As you may know, it's a fable about two frogs. One is slowly boiled alive and dies without realizing it, while the other is suddenly dropped into boiling water, but jumps out and survives.

I decided to go for the latter—immediately dealing with the situation by fighting 'now' for career survival. I would rather have died (i.e., fought) when people knew why I was fighting than wait and make a fuss a few years later when everyone had forgotten what happened to me. But Japan is a 'harmonious' country. It was and still is very unusual and difficult for people to disobey superiors and employers.

This took a physical toll on me. A year later, I was hospitalized for a week but I'm better now and I still work for the same company. Looking back, I believe that I was right in choosing to jump into the boiling water.

Posted on 9/30/2017

Revised on 8/11/2019

Revised on 10/8/2026

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大分前の話です。勤務先で異動を受け入れるか拒否するかの選択を迫られまし。拒否する＝会社と戦うことだったのですが、問題は、異動を受け入れても結局は数年後、異動先でまた揉めると分かっていたこと。さあ、どうする？戦うのは今か、それとも数年後か？

その時思い出したのが「ゆでカエル理論」です。カエルが水からゆっくり茹でられると知らないうちに死んでしまうけど、熱湯に投げ込まれると驚いて飛び跳ねて死なない、というあの寓話です。

この手の話の好きな父が、子供の頃話してくれました。それで思い切って熱湯に飛び込んじゃった（つまり「即」戦う方を選んだ）んですが、大変でした｡｡。精神的にも肉体的にもつらく、一時期入院しました。でも今は正しい決断だったと思っています。

初稿　9/30/2017

改訂　8/11/2019

改訂　10/8/2026

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