Thanks to one of my mentors, I learnt about the Japanese principle of “Nemawashi” and how this idea helps organizations build consensus towards change.
So, what is Nemawashi?
Nemawashi is technique used by Japanese farmers (and bonsai experts), where before transplanting a tree to a new location, they dig around the roots and introduce soil/dirt from the new location. This process helps the tree get accustomed to the new environment even before it went there. It is basically the groundwork done for successfully transplanting the tree.
In a similar way, when you do Nemawashi in your organization, you informally start laying the foundation for a change or a new idea that you are proposing, by going around, sharing the difficult proposal to relevant stakeholders, gathering support, feedback, concerns and consent in a safe environment.
In these situations, stakeholders are less insecure and will share their honest opinions with you. You hence get an opportunity to understand their concerns and address any gaps in your proposal. Most importantly stakeholders will really appreciate the fact that you showed trust and sought their inputs in confidence before placing the proposal in a meeting.
And on the D-day, when you present your proposal to your full executive team, even your die-hard critics will not criticize the idea. Because they don't feel threatened by a new idea coming in and more so because they have already shared their reactions with you. And in case you have taken their feedback and also refined your proposal, you may actually have a new advocate for the idea.
In my experience, I have seen that if you run an iterative process of successive nemawashi meetings supported by refinements to your plan, you almost always end up with a really good plan to win.
So, have I convinced you to become a nemawashi-er?
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