“Just yesterday, Julie, I was paging through Liker’s The Toyota Way and I encountered a slightly familiar but little-used term, nemawashi. It’s part of Principle 13 of The Fourteen Principles of the Toyota Way. Liker defines nemawashi as ‘the process of discussing problems and potential solutions with all of those affected, to collect their ideas and get agreement on a path forward.’ (1)”
“I know why it was slightly familiar, Curmudge; we wrote about it in Kaizen Curmudgeon four years ago. We introduced the concept in our February 18, 2008 posting and discussed it further on February 25. With your age-depleted memory, I’m amazed that you had any recollection of nemawashi at all. I suspect that even people who are young and productive have forgotten about nemawashi. That tends to occur with concepts that are described with long Japanese words.”
“Then it’s time for a refresher. We hear every day about A3 Problem Solving, but people may tackle a problem with that technique without getting input from all affected, i.e., nemawashi.”
“And it’s even less Lean-like if problems are ‘resolved’ by command-and-control without using nemawashi or A3.”
“As blog postings go, Julie, our discussions of nemawashi four years ago were pretty comprehensive. Since we needn’t duplicate them, it may be most practical to touch upon their high points and emphasize their link to A3s.”
“How about starting with the basics, Curmudge, and Dr. Deming’s advice to ‘drive out fear.’ An organization’s practice of nemawashi engenders trust among individuals and between individuals and the organization. If practiced rigorously, nemawashi requires openness and transparency. As mentioned four years ago, there will not be undiscussable issues.”
“So now let’s link nemawashi with A3 Problem Solving. We typically view an A3 as a team activity with team members selected to provide the broadest input, hopefully from everyone affected (nemawashi). An enlarged A3 sheet drawn on a whiteboard is used to record the team’s deliberations for all to see (transparency). The desired outcome is for the team members to be in general accord (consensus) on the future state, countermeasures, and path forward.”
“I’ve got it, Curmudge. One needs to start with nemawashi in order to do the A3 process right.”
“That’s our lesson, Jaded Julie. So what have we gained in the four years and 180 Kaizen Curmudgeon blog postings since we last discussed nemawashi?”
“Well, we’ve both learned a lot, but you have forgotten quite a bit of it. I guess I’m more knowledgeable, and you’re older.”
“They say that wine is the only thing that gets better with age. But that’s only good wine that I can’t afford.”
“Hang in there, Curmudge.”
“Keep up the good work, Julie.”
Kaizen Curmudgeon
(1) Liker, J.K. The Toyota Way, p. 40 (2004, McGraw-Hill).
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