You suggest an idea in a meeting. Your manager says it is interesting, maybe even a very good one. Then, sometime later, you realize the discussion has continued without you, and you are not included when the final decision is made.
It is easy to read that as, “They liked my idea, but they did not want me involved.”
But this is not necessarily about being a foreign employee. The same thing can happen to Japanese employees, and companies differ greatly in how they handle decisions. In some workplaces, the person who proposes an idea remains involved all the way through. In others, proposing the idea and getting it approved can feel like separate stages of the process.
A manager can genuinely think an idea is good without being able to adopt it immediately. Budgets, other departments, past decisions, personal relationships, and the balance of influence inside the company may all affect what happens next.
This is where nemawashi can come in. Before a formal meeting, people may speak with key colleagues, check their reactions, and work through possible objections. A strong idea does not automatically become an approved idea simply because it sounds convincing in the meeting where it was first raised.
The employee who proposed it may expect to remain part of the discussion. The manager, meanwhile, may be thinking, “Good idea. From here, I’ll handle the discussions with senior management and the other departments.”
The manager may not feel that anyone is being excluded at all. But if nobody explains that shift in roles, the employee can easily feel that the idea was taken away from them.
That confusion can happen to Japanese employees too. What may make it harder for some foreign employees is simply that they are not yet familiar with how decisions are handled in that particular company. If nobody explains who takes over at which stage, a routine handoff from the manager’s point of view can look like exclusion from the employee’s point of view.
A short explanation can make a large difference: “We want to move forward with your idea. From here, I’ll coordinate with the other departments and senior management.”
The role may have changed, but at least the employee knows why.