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NEMAWASHI
根回し
“preparing the roots for planting”
Nemawashi is an agricultural metaphor. The idea is that before a farmer plants a rice seedling, he should prepare the roots to go into the soil, so that the seedling has the best chance of survival. Today relatively few Japanese are involved in rice production, but nemawashi has taken on a new, more figurative meaning—which is especially applicable to many business situations.
Suppose that you are a low-level or mid-level corporate employee. You have been chosen to present your department’s new project proposal to an upper management committee. The approval of the project rides on the success of your presentation.
If the formal proposal meeting is the first time that the management committee members see it, a number of things could go wrong. They could ask a lot of questions that you can’t answer, or you could find that the particular approach you have chosen creates problems for one or more of them. Any of these stumbling blocks could derail your project.
A better method would be to hold informal discussions with each one of the committee members before making the formal presentation to the group. This will enable you to answer any objections in advance, and get each committee member “on board.” By the time you make the formal presentation, the hard work will be done, so you will be able to more or less breeze through the meeting.
This scenario depicts the practice of nemawashi in the business world. Whether you work for a Japanese company or not, nemawashi is a valuable technique for getting your way in a corporate environment.