Nemawashi is a Japanese word which roughly translates as “going around the roots”, conceptually referring to the process of digging around the roots to prepare a tree for transplant.
At Toyota, it means gathering broad input from people with a stake or with special knowledge and, in the process, building consensus, prior to a major decision being made, such as a business transformation programme or a major tech rollout. You are preparing the people, so that generally by the time a meeting is held to make the decision, all interested parties have agreed to the decision.
Consensus does not mean everybody agrees 100%, but it does mean that everybody’s input is considered, and it’s expected that everyone involved will support the final decision 100%.
In his book “The Toyota Way”, Jeffrey Liker, says that at Toyota, how you arrive at a decision is as important as the results of the decision. Management may forgive a decision that does not work out as expected if the process used was a good one, however they will not be happy with a chance decision that does work out well, but was based on a shortcut process.
A recent article from the Harvard Business Review, “Transformations That Work”, by Mankins and Litre, from the May/June 2024 edition, https://hbr.org/2024/05/transformations-that-work, suggest that of a sample of business transformation programmes carried out by 300 large organizations worldwide in the previous decade, only 12% of companies met or exceeded expectations, whilst in 75% of cases, businesses settled for mediocre results, and 13% failed to deliver altogether.
Their research indicates that when companies embark on major strategic or operational changes, there is a very high chance of failure. By effectively following the process of Nemawashi, this may help reduce the chance of failure.
The five elements of Nemawashi
Nemawashi refers to an informal process of laying the foundation for a proposed change or project by taking to the people concerned and gathering support and feedback. The goal is to establish consensus and broad support for change by involving everyone impacted by the change before formally announcing the new initiative.
There are five major elements to Nemawashi including:
- Understanding the problem or issue and explaining its importance and priority
- Understanding the current condition including possible causes of the issue, asking “Why?” five times, (known as the 5 whys).
- Broadly considering alternative approaches and developing a detailed rationale for the preferred approach.
- Building consensus within the team, including amongst Toyota employees and outside partners
- Using efficient communication vehicles to execute steps 1 through 4, preferably by using the A3 process
Let’s look at a scenario where Nemawashi might be used.
Scenario
As an example, an IT director wants to roll out a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system across the organization, like SAP, Oracle, or NetSuite. These implementations can be highly disruptive and often face resistance due to:
- Change in workflows
- Training needs
- Fear of redundancy or increased monitoring
- Cross-departmental coordination
Nemawashi in action
Step 1: Identify Key Stakeholders
Before proposing anything officially, the IT Director identifies:
- Department heads (for example Finance, Operations, Marketing, Procurement, Sales)
- Key influencers or “power users” in each team
- Potential blockers (e.g. someone who disliked the last tech rollout)
Step 2: One-on-One Conversations
Privately (via informal meetings, coffee chats, or casual calls), the IT Director:
- Explains the need for change (e.g., inefficiencies in the current system)
- Listens carefully to what stakeholders fear, want, or suggest
- Takes notes and doesn’t push the decision — the focus is on exploration
Example:
“I’ve been exploring ERP systems to help reduce manual reporting and improve forecasting accuracy. What’s working well for you right now, and what’s frustrating?”
Step 3: Incorporate Feedback
The Director uses this feedback to:
- Adjust the proposed implementation timeline
- Ensure specific pain points (e.g. purchase order delays, inventory mismatches) are addressed
- Involve champions from each team early in the system design phase
This builds a sense of co-creation — people feel it’s their solution, not an imposed one.
Step 4: Pre-Confirm Support
Before the formal project kickoff meeting:
- The Director checks back with key players to confirm they’re comfortable with the plan
- Any dissenting voices are handled quietly and respectfully — sometimes by making concessions or offering training/help
Step 5: Formal Rollout
Now, when the system is officially presented:
- There’s minimal resistance
- Department heads are already mentally aligned
- Some even speak in support of the project in front of others
The benefits to using Nemawashi are summarised in the following table:
| Without Nemawashi | With Nemawashi |
| Surprise leads to resistance | Early buy-in smooths decision-making |
| Public objections in meetings | Concerns addressed quietly beforehand |
| Delay due to lack of consensus | Faster implementation with support |
| Employees feel excluded | Users feel heard and involved |
Even outside of major transformation programmes or tech rollouts, there is ample opportunity to embed the concept of nemawashi into a company’s Business As Usual (BAU) operations. It’s really about ensuring all stakeholders are kept informed, listened to, aligned, at every stage of the process of a decision, so that there is no surprise at the final hurdle, where one stakeholder suddenly expresses objection to something that should have been ironed out long before.
An example comes to mind of an engineering firm that was in negotiations with a mining company for a major contract. For months, the two parties negotiated backwards and forwards over designs, quotations etc., and then at the end the mining company requested a large discount in the price of the job if the engineering company wanted the contract. By incorporating nemawashi, and ensuring that each party is aligned at each stage of the journey, this limits the scope for “negative surprises” at the very end.