6 a.m.

Up bright and early, Brooks says he does some of his best thinking in the shower. "I joke about the shower thing, but it really does work. A lot of stuff is percolating in your mind, and you just need that isolation to gather your thoughts together," says Brooks. His 25-minute drive to work offers more time to reflect.

8:30 a.m.

At his Cypress, Calif., office, Brooks begins his morning by checking the 100 to 150 e-mails he receives every day. He opens and reads the important ones, responding to them throughout the day. Some, he just doesn't get to.

"E-mail is a fundamental part of the business," he says. "I think part of the reason is that we're a Japanese company, and when things are written down, it's much easier to make sure there's some level of understanding because of the language barrier. When something is written down, the English-limited members of the company get a chance to read through it three or four times and figure out what it really means."