At the same time, the proposal must be stated as the planner actually intended it to be. He has to push through his real plan. He must make certain that others read his mind correctly and understand his real intent. These two efforts might seem to contradict each other, but the Japanese never see any potential conflict in this type of communication. Their haragei just does away with the contradiction.
In Japan, people speak very highly of a man who wins in grand haragei. Without telling others what he is really thinking, he makes them follow his lead and reach the destination he wants. Defeat is usually caused by a breakdown in haragei. Anyone who contributes to such a breakdown in the organization ought to think twice about what it is costing. And he ought to be on guard for the backlash. There are two requirements for successful business communication: the first is to read others' intentions more quickly than they read yours, and the second is not to expose your own intention until others grasp it, so that by implication you sway them to your point of view. Anyone who can neither read another person's mind nor let the other person read his mind is not worth a damn in Japan.
Here is the typical jargon of Japanese bureaucrats: "We will look ahead and think it over." This sounds as if they are going to consider the proposal and move forward to realize it. But in most cases they don't move forward. They do look ahead and consider it, but in vain. What they actually mean by the jargon is "It is very difficult and seems impractical," or "We will study it but won't be able to do it." This is another haragei to avoid saying no. Japanese bureaucrats also often say, "We would like to try all possible means to solve this problem in a manner acceptable to both you and us." This also sounds very positive, but it will be very time-consuming as the two parties try to reach a point of agreement. The expert at haragei, while tactfully concealing his real intention (for instance, to say no), sustains the other person's position and manipulates his mind.
Haragei is the communication of ishin-denshin (conveyance from mind to mind) and is based on tacit understanding. How someone reads your mind is completely left to him. You can't confirm his understanding. If you confirm it, the communication is no longer haragei. Furthermore, you will be devaluated and labeled "importunate and stubborn" if you do confirm or reconfirm what someone else attributes as your meaning. And if you fail to read the mind of your superior, he will surely lament your ability by saying, "What a weak little fellow!" instead of regretting his own improper and insufficient words. He may even get angry at your being unable to grasp his meaning completely.
Haragei is not based on any systematic logic, and you can't use X-ray to see through someone else's mind. You just have to read his mind in whatever way you tend to read. The comprehension will vary. When the situation changes, your understanding of his intention and the conclusion you draw may change as well.
Perhaps the superior himself may alter his intention when the situation fades away. The organization man, in order to read the superior's mind correctly, must always be ready to adjust his response according to the circumstances. There is always uncertainty in haragei. It is a gamble of communication. Success is achieved by the person who develops both the offensive ability to read others' minds and the defensive ability to keep his intention from being read. In other words, your success or failure will be determined by your ability to perform haragei. The tradition is a carryover from the samurai society, when vassals fought furiously through haragei. It is for this reason that Chushingura (the story of 47 samurai's revenge)—a grand drama of typical haragei—never loses its popularity in Japan.
Don't Kill the Problem, Solve It
We can make a good guess at how successful an organization man will be if we know what his problems are and how he solves them. For example, he will be unlikely to succeed if:
• He creates problems that he cannot handle.
• He has problems that he is not aware of.
• His problems involve people in positions of power higher than his own.
On the other hand, he will have a good chance to succeed if:
• He is able to solve his problems without inviting other people's anger.
• He never fails to compromise with others in solving problems.
What this boils down to is that we can judge the prospects of an organization man not only by his position in the company but by the way he handles his problems.
It is virtually impossible to accomplish anything worthwhile in this world without running across problems. People who work in an organization face a never-ending series of forks along the road. They may get puzzled at the crossroads, or be unable to find a shortcut. They may have to give up their chances of success. They will face difficulties and problems here and there.
Although a person needs a kind of bulldozing power to break the impasse of a problem, he must also have bargaining power to settle the problem. He should make sure that his problem-solving plan contains lots of flexible measures. It must not be narrow and confining. Owing to the traditional code of wa (harmony), the Japanese people generally dislike doing away with the problem by force. They usually look for the point at which they can compromise in solving the problem and reach a solution that satisfies all parties.
In the emotionally charged Japanese society, it is generally advisable to solve the problem by adopting an emotional approach. This doesn't mean using intuition or being self-centered. Rather, it means being sensitive to the feelings of others. For example, there were two characters in one company—one was Mr. Takagi, head of the accounting section, and the other was Mr. Moto, a member of the sales department. Takagi was mean and nasty just because he was very sharp at accounting and very capable at finding others' mistakes in documents. Nobody liked him. In contrast, Moto was good-natured but a little dull, and weak in handling figures. Takagi often discovered Moto's mistakes on various sales reports and tormented him painfully. But Moto never hesitated to visit Takagi's desk with the documents, for he wanted to solve his problems and learn from the expert. At session after session, Moto would listen to Takagi's disparaging remarks. Then he devised an invaluable means of pacifying the accountant's irritable temper. He had only to make a pun once in a while during the session. Takagi could not help grinning, and sometimes laughed loudly with Moto. By dissolving the first problem with Takagi, Moto was able to understand subject matter fully and learn the ropes of advanced accounting. Thus he overcame his weak points within a few months and never again created a problem in documenting sales figures. He is now the manager of a branch office overseas.
In a Japanese organization, workers knock heads constantly, clashing in their ambitious attempts to outsmart each other. Underneath the veneer of politeness and allegiance, the tough muscle of basic motives and desperate tactics is laid bare. Problems are inevitable. You can't work up to full capacity or grow to your full potential if you run away from problems. Certainly problems are costly and even dangerous sometimes, but if you handle them properly they also give you a chance to build up your muscle and thereby earn big rewards in prestigious areas.