240: Nemawashi Is Gold When Selling In Japan

<p>I hear some people say translating terms like “nemawashi” into English is difficult.  Really?  I always thought it was one of the easier ones.  Let's just call it “groundwork”.  In fact, that is a very accurate description ,from a number of different angles.  Japanese gardeners are superstars.  There is limited flat space in this country, so over centuries gardeners have worked out you need to move the trees you want, to where you want them.  They prefer this approach to just waiting thirty years for them to turn out the preferred way.  It is not unusual today to see a huge tree on the back of a big truck ,being moved from one location to another and presto instant garden.  The roots of that massive tree will be wrapped up in cloth to protect them.  That wrapping process is called “nemawashi”.  In business, it means being well prepared for the business meeting – doing the ground work beforehand.</p> <p> </p> <p>In a Western context being well prepared for the meeting will mean assembling all the data and analysis in order to make an impassioned plea for your idea or suggestion, to be accepted by the big bosses.  We all get to the meeting, listen to the different approaches and we make a decision in that meeting.  What could be more time efficient and logical?  They never do it that way in Japan.</p> <p> </p> <p>Concepts of time efficiency differ for a start and throwing massive amounts of overtime at a problem is not problem in Japan.  The meeting is also a ceremony, because the decision has already been arrived at beforehand and the gathering is just to formalise the outcome.  This happens in the West too.  Whenever you see global leaders delivering their joint statements or signing agreements,  they didn’t arrive at the wording during the meeting. That was all worked out by their minions beforehand, over many hours of debate, negotiation and discussion.  The TV cameras just capture the big guys and gals inking the document, after all the “groundwork” has been completed.</p> <p> </p> <p>I was talking with a W