Why do many business initiatives fail even though companies have extensive resources, great teams, and sufficient time? One of the reasons why business plans do not succeed is because they do not have the required level of organizational buy-in. One way to increase institutional commitment is through nemawashi, a form of Japanese consensus building. This article discusses how nemawashi can be applied in every organization to increase the probability that business projects will be implemented successfully.

Strategy Execution and Buy-In

One of the characteristics of a great company is its ability to carry out ideas, regardless of the challenges. Despite the importance of execution to building a company’s value and maintaining its competitive position, many strategic initiatives are never implemented or fall apart almost as soon as they are launched.

One of the critical reasons projects are not implemented is because of a lack of buy-in.

There are several reasons why projects are not finished, but one of the most important is a lack of buy-in. Buy-in represents a level of corporate commitment regarding a project or initiative. Once there is a buy-in, there is a corporate change in perspective from “we could do this” or “we would like to do this” to “we definitely will do this.” Buy-in means the project is a go.

Buy-in represents a level of corporate commitment regarding a project or initiative.

While buy-in can take several forms given an organization’s structure, management philosophy, and operating approach, it often has several key characteristics.

• Formal decision. Buy-in is generally accompanied by formal approval at the departmental or executive level.
• Resources commitment. Buy-in usually involves the commitment of human or financial resources to make sure the project gets done.
• Decision communication. Projects with buy-in are usually communicated to all relevant internal and external parties.

Reasons for Buy-In Decline

Despite the confidence with which many projects are launched, organizational buy-in is often not broad enough or sustained long enough to allow initiatives to be completed.

There are several reasons why this happens.

Changing Corporate Priorities. The first reason is that corporate priorities shift. Buy-in is a function of the particular circumstances a company faces and, as these circumstances change, corporate to-do lists get rewritten and shuffled around. Something that needed to get done yesterday can suddenly be pushed to the back burner, for team members or the entire firm.

Losses of Corporate Resources. A second reason is that there are changes in corporate resources. Almost all significant projects in a firm require a commitment of resources, often for a long period of time. If firm resources are suddenly depleted because of a change in the firm’s financial position or because available resources are needed to be spent on another urgent initiative, projects are often put on hold until a firm is on stronger financial footing.

Changes in Firm Personnel. A third reason is organizational changes. Firms do not stand still: members of management come and go; new employees are hired and change jobs; sometimes entire departments are reorganized. As new people are involved in projects, they bring their own ideas about how initiatives should be carried out. These views can dilute the original vision that gave rise to a project and cause it to veer off track.

Weak Initial Buy-In. A fourth reason that projects fail is because initial support for the project was not strong enough. On many occasions, projects are launched without consulting the people who will be principally responsible for a project’s implementation. When they are consulted, it may be at the last minute, and they may be provided with essentially no opportunity to give feedback and express opinions that will be seriously considered and reflected in the final form the project takes.

Projects often fail because initial buy-in was not strong enough.

The fait-accompli model of pushing a project into effect has several problems that often doom it to failure before it even begins. Railroading a project into action may eliminate timely consideration of project flaws that would have allowed the project to remain viable.

Apart from eliciting technical feedback, from a psychological perspective, people who were not consulted may have very low levels of enthusiasm for a project. Rather than challenging themselves to make the project happen and think of creative solutions when projects hit inevitable sticking points, they may actively work against the project by withholding support, not cooperating, and engaging in other forms of direct or indirect corporate footdragging.

The Power of Nemawashi

One way to address the problem of low buy-in is through the Japanese practice of nemawashi. The word nemawashi means “turning over the roots” and refers to the great care taken in moving a plant from one place to another.

In the Japanese corporate context, nemawashi refers to the process of building organizational support for an idea. Through nemawashi, people leading a project have discussions with interested team members to get feedback, incorporate ideas into the proposal, and build project consensus. The process of nemawashi is one of the core components of the Toyoto Production System.

Nemawashi has several key components.

Consult all relevant people. Rather than consult a few select people who are likely to go along with the project idea, all relevant people should be consulted regardless of whether they are likely to support the project. In addition to increasing the likelihood that project flaws will be identified, it will make people feel that their opinions are important and that they are valuable members of the organization. The creation of this organizational good-will has benefits that extend far beyond a specific initiative.

Create real time and space for project analysis. Many projects are complex and require time to understand. Rather than present a project for consideration at the last minute when detailed analysis is not reasonably possible, it is essential to set up an organized process where there is space for people to understand the significance of the initiative, consider it, and provide thoughtful feedback on its advantages and disadvantages.

Deeply listen to and incorporate feedback. Perhaps one of the most crucial parts of nemawashi is listening to feedback and sincerely trying to incorporate it into the project proposal. It is easy to turn listening into an exercise of picking out only what you want to hear and reframing comments so they require a minimum amount of effort to address. It is much harder to fully take comments into consideration and go through the hard work of rethinking something from another person’s perspective.

One of the most crucial components of nemawashi is listening deeply to project feedback.

Nemawashi does not necessarily mean accepting every comment because some suggestions may not be viable or may not be able to be implemented given a project’s time frame and available resources. But it does require making a sincere effort to take a person’s perspective into account and not to be afraid, if necessary, to do the hard work of returning to the planning drawing board and coming up with something better.

Obtain broad-based approval. If nemawashi has been carried out effectively, by the time a project is presented for final approval, it has already been effectively accepted by all interested parties. The approval is symbolic recognition an agreement that has already been vetted and achieved. Apart from a formal project stamp of approval, carrying out the process in this way creates a feeling of harmony throughout the entire company. Everyone can feel that, rather than having had a questionable initiative forced on them, they were consulted about and have real ownership in the venture.

Conclusion

Buy-in is critical for accomplishing objectives. Despite its importance, many key firm projects fail because the level of buy-in is not strong enough. By applying the concept nemawashi, companies can build consensus and not only increase the likelihood that the project will actually be implemented, but also create a sense of belonging and harmony in the firm, which will help build company value in the future.

Special thanks to Kari Shea for the photo on Unsplash. Beautiful Free Images & Pictures | Unsplash