206: Nemawashi Is A Key Skill In Japan

<p>Understanding the basics of Japanese business requires we have to know about nemawashi and what it means for us.  Today we are going to explore how nemawashi impacts decision-making in Japan.</p> <p> </p> <p>Nemawashi is a very important word in Japanese.  It is made up of two words “ne” which means root and “mawashi” which means to wrap around.  Or wrapping up the root. A good translation however is “groundwork”, usually associated with a decision or a meeting.  In Japan they can move 15-20 meters trees from one location to another.  They dig down, cut the tap root, bind up the root ball, get a big crane, put the whole tree on a truck and transplant it to another place.  Quite amazing.</p> <p> </p> <p>That nemawashi represents preparation before the tree gets moved.  In business the same things apply.  We want a certain decision to be taken so we prepare to influence the direction that decision will take.  We might be dealing with a client or within our company.  Japan doesn’t leave anything to chance.  Prior to the meeting, you meet with the other people who are going to attend the meeting and you try to get their agreement with what you propose.  In this way, the decision is taken before anyone gets in the room.  The meeting itself is just there to formally approve what has been decided beforehand.</p> <p> </p> <p>In a Western context, we would make the decision in the room.  Everyone would turn up expecting that there will a discussion, some debate and final decision will be reached during that meeting.  In the Japanese case, they will already have made the decision, so if you want to influence the decision you have to start early. It is no good leaving it until the meeting itself, because that will be too late and the decision will have already been taken.</p> <p> </p> <p>If it is a client company, you need to work with your internal champion to get the decision makers to agree with what you want to happen.  Usually the decision you want is that the client uses your product or service.  As an outsider you