Jaded Julie learns what is needed to achieve nemawashi in the U.S.

“Shall we continue our discussion of nemawashi, Julie? Would you be so kind as to review what it is? I’m certain that you have become a Toyota Way zealot.”

“You know me; I can’t wait. Nemawashi is the Japanese term for the way Toyota makes decisions by consensus. They evaluate proposals based on their merits after critical review of all data by all stakeholders. Curmudge, in our last discussion you listed a lot of bad habits practiced in the U.S. as leftovers from our old command-and-control culture. I believe our path forward for today was to describe the characteristics that American organizations would have to develop in order to match Toyota’s nemawashi.”

“That’s it, Julie. Good job! Let’s start by making a list of required characteristics. The biggest item on the list is trust. Trust is the antidote for fear, and fear must go. Of course, we can’t just pronounce that everyone in an organization will trust everyone else in the organization. Trust—including that between individuals and also between individuals and the organization—must be earned. Incidentally, one earns trust by giving trust, just like the way one earns respect.”

“It sounds like a big task, especially if old wounds need to heal before the process can begin. There must be several other organizational and personal qualities that are necessary.”

“There sure are, Julie. Here is a back-of-the-envelope list:
· A compelling mission that captures the passion of the employees.
· Involved and committed top leadership who articulate the organization’s goals clearly and consistently.
· A transparent, no-secrets culture that communicates trust and confidence vertically and horizontally in the organization.
· Leaders at every level who provide purpose, direction, and motivation and who receive on-going leadership training.
· Empowered employees who acquire a sense of ownership.
· People who are motivated to perform in a superior manner when they are treated with fairness, respect, and dignity, and allowed to participate in decisions affecting them.
· Meetings characterized by mutual respect at which attendees leave rank at the door and speak with data.
· Highly motivated and capable people working together in teams to achieve outstanding results.
· Strategy deployment that combines centralized development of corporate goals with ‘bottom-up’ involvement of those with a detailed knowledge of the organization’s processes.
· Recognition and rewards for outstanding contributions.
· A learning organization: One skilled at creating and acquiring knowledge and at modifying its own behavior to reflect the new knowledge and insights.”

“An organization that meets all of these criteria should certainly match nemawashi. In fact, I think you just described the Lean culture. If an organization achieves the rest of Lean, nemawashi should take care of itself.”

“Good observation, Julie. If the rest of Lean encompasses nemawashi, nemawashi is not an independent Lean requirement. It’s just the Japanese version of the open communication that should exist in any Lean culture.”

“Hooray! Now I can drop nemawashi from my Japanese vocabulary.”

“You know, Julie, we could simplify our lengthy discussion if we just take to heart what Alexandre Dumas taught us in his 19th century novel, The Three Musketeers. When Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and their young friend D’Artagnan raised their swords (or goblets), they shouted…”

“…’All for one’, Curmudge.”

“…’and one for all’, Julie.”

Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon