When I first started working in the school system in Nagasaki, I made what I thought was a brilliant suggestion during a staff meeting. I’d noticed that our students were struggling with English pronunciation, so I proposed introducing a new phonics programme I’d used successfully back in London. I presented my idea clearly, backed it up with research, and even offered to lead the implementation myself.
The response? Polite nods, a few “interesting” comments, and then… nothing. Weeks passed, and my suggestion seemed to have vanished into thin air. It wasn’t until months later that I discovered I’d completely misunderstood how ideas actually get implemented in Japanese workplaces. The secret wasn’t what I said or how I said it, but when and where I said it.
That’s when I learned about nemawashi, and it changed everything about how I work in Japan.
What Is Nemawashi?
Nemawashi (根回し) literally means “to go around the roots” and refers to the process of laying groundwork for a proposal by speaking with key stakeholders individually before any formal meeting takes place. Think of it as cultivating support for your idea the same way a gardener carefully tends to a plant’s root system before expecting it to bloom.
In Western workplaces, we’re used to presenting ideas in meetings where they’re debated, refined, and decided upon in real time. But in Japan, meetings are rarely the place where decisions are actually made. Instead, they’re where previously agreed-upon decisions are formally announced and documented. The real work happens in the corridors, over coffee, and in those casual conversations that Japanese colleagues seem to have effortlessly.
Understanding nemawashi isn’t just about being more effective at work; it’s about showing respect for Japanese decision-making culture and demonstrating that you understand how things really get done.
My Nemawashi Learning Curve
After my initial meeting failure, I started paying closer attention to how my Japanese colleagues operated. I noticed that successful proposals always seemed to have this mysterious momentum behind them before they were ever officially discussed. Ideas that appeared to come out of nowhere in meetings had actually been circulating for weeks in smaller conversations.
One particularly observant moment came when a colleague suggested implementing a new student assessment system. During the meeting, there was immediate support from several teachers, thoughtful questions that seemed designed to clarify rather than challenge, and quick consensus. It was almost too smooth.
Later, over drinks, another teacher mentioned that he’d been discussing this assessment idea with various staff members for over a month. “Tanaka-san spoke with me about it three weeks ago,” he said casually. “We worked through some of the concerns about marking time, and I think it could really help our struggling students.”
That’s when it clicked. Tanaka hadn’t just had a good idea; she’d done her nemawashi properly. By the time the meeting happened, the decision was essentially already made.
Identifying the Key Players
The first step in effective nemawashi is understanding who actually influences decisions in your workplace. This isn’t always obvious from the organisational chart. In my experience working in Nagasaki schools, the official hierarchy was clear, but the informal power structure was far more complex.
Sometimes the deputy head had more influence over curriculum decisions than the head teacher. Other times, a long-serving teacher who’d been at the school for decades carried enormous weight despite having no official management role. There was even a administrative staff member whose opinion on practical matters was sought by everyone because she knew exactly how things would work in practice.
I learned to identify these key influencers by watching meeting dynamics, noting whose opinions seemed to carry extra weight, and observing who colleagues approached for informal advice. These were the people I needed to bring on board before any formal proposal.
The Art of Casual Conversation
Once you know who to approach, the next challenge is how to approach them. The beauty of nemawashi is that it doesn’t feel like lobbying or politics; it should feel like natural workplace conversation. The key is creating opportunities for organic discussions about the challenges you’re hoping to address.
Rather than marching up to someone and saying, “I have an idea I’d like to discuss,” I learned to start with questions and observations. “I’ve been noticing that some of our Year 2 students seem to struggle with…” or “I’ve been wondering if there might be a better way to…”
These opening gambits invite collaboration rather than presenting a finished solution. They give your colleagues the opportunity to contribute their own insights, concerns, and improvements. This collaborative approach is crucial because by the time you present your idea formally, you want people to feel like they’ve helped shape it.
Building Consensus, Not Winning Arguments
One of the biggest adjustments I had to make was moving from a mindset of convincing people to one of building consensus. In my British experience, presenting a good idea well was usually enough. If someone disagreed, you could debate the merits and hopefully bring them around with better arguments or more compelling evidence.
Nemawashi works differently. Instead of trying to win people over to your predetermined solution, you’re inviting them to help you solve a shared problem. This means being genuinely open to their feedback and willing to modify your proposal based on their insights.
During my informal conversations about the phonics programme, I discovered that several teachers were concerned about the additional workload, while others worried about how it would fit with the existing curriculum. Rather than dismissing these concerns, I worked with them to address each issue. The final proposal looked quite different from my original idea, but it was much stronger and had genuine buy-in from the people who would need to implement it.
Timing Is Everything
Nemawashi requires patience, and this can be frustrating for people used to faster decision-making processes. But rushing the process is almost guaranteed to backfire. I learned this lesson when I tried to shortcut nemawashi on a proposal for new teaching resources.
Instead of taking the time to speak with everyone individually, I arranged a smaller meeting with just the key decision-makers, thinking this would be more efficient. The meeting went well, everyone seemed supportive, but when the proposal came up in the formal staff meeting, several teachers raised concerns that derailed the entire discussion.
What I’d missed was that those teachers had legitimate worries that needed to be addressed, but they hadn’t felt comfortable raising them in the smaller meeting with senior staff present. If I’d done proper nemawashi, I would have discovered these concerns early and addressed them before the formal meeting.
The Role of Mentors and Allies
One of the most valuable aspects of nemawashi is how it helps you build relationships with colleagues who can become ongoing allies. In the Nagasaki school system, I was fortunate to have a mentor who guided me through this process, but even without formal mentorship, you can cultivate these relationships.
Look for colleagues who seem particularly skilled at getting things done, and pay attention to how they operate. Often, these are people who are generous with their time when others approach them informally, who ask thoughtful questions in meetings, and who seem to have their finger on the pulse of workplace dynamics.
These allies can provide crucial feedback on your ideas before you approach more senior staff. They can also help you identify potential objections you hadn’t considered and suggest the best people to speak with about specific aspects of your proposal.
Common Nemawashi Mistakes to Avoid
Through trial and error, I identified several pitfalls that can derail even well-intentioned nemawashi efforts. The first is trying to build consensus with everyone. While it’s important to speak with key stakeholders, attempting to get every single person on board can be overwhelming and counterproductive.
Another mistake is being too attached to your original idea. If multiple people raise the same concern during your informal conversations, it’s probably a legitimate issue that needs addressing. Flexibility is crucial to successful nemawashi.
Perhaps the biggest mistake is rushing to the formal proposal too quickly. It’s tempting to move forward once you have support from a few key people, but thorough nemawashi takes time. Missing important stakeholders or failing to address concerns can undo all your earlier work.
When Nemawashi Works: A Success Story
Six months after my initial phonics programme failure, I had another idea: creating a buddy system where older students would help younger ones with English conversation practice. This time, I approached it completely differently.
I started by mentioning the challenge to my mentor during a casual corridor conversation. She suggested I speak with the Year 6 teachers about whether their students might be interested. Those conversations led to discussions with Year 2 teachers about what kind of help their students needed most.
By the time I had informal chats with the head teacher and deputy head, the idea had evolved significantly. We’d addressed concerns about supervision, worked out a system for training the older students, and even identified ways to make it count towards the older students’ school records.
When I finally presented the buddy system proposal in a staff meeting, it felt almost anticlimactic. There were a few clarifying questions, some suggestions for minor tweaks, and then approval. The whole formal discussion took less than ten minutes, but the three months of nemawashi had made it possible.
