Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/    "I don’t understand!". Well in Nippon, particularly, what a pandora’s box or treasure trove that statement is, depending on your point of view. Employees who respond in this way may have a number of subterranean issues bubbling away. As managers, our ability to plumb the depths of what they are saying is integral for success. Here are 5 hidden meanings behind that "I don’t understand" response. Gauging which one applies is the combined IQ and EQ test for managers. Here are few hints on passing the test and getting your just reward – keeping your job! 1 – They don’t know what to do They may genuinely not understand the task content or have enough experience to execute what you require of them. They may not want to "fess up" to their lack of ability, because they fear the consequences. 2 – They don’t know how to do it Funnily enough common sense is not so common it would appear. What is obvious to a seasoned, experienced manager may be "Swahili" to their staff. Logic works in mysterious ways, especially here in Japan, so the way forward can be unclear. 3 – Not believing they can do it This is closely linked to the "Big Black Book of Failure". This infamous tome is usually squirrelled away in the bowels of the HR Department and it carefully captures and records everyone’s errors, mistakes, crimes and disasters. Therefore, a certain inspired logic informs it is better to do nothing, than to make a mistake. Fear of falling short of expectations or performance minimums is re-branded as "I don’t understand". 4 – Not knowing why they should do it This has two variants. One is why should "I" be doing this? In other words, in my highly refined and defined world view, my guidebook of Big Black Book of Failure avoidance says only do precisely what is in my job description and avoid straying into exotic areas of interest to my manager. The second variant is more bold. It is the actual idea that this task or project has dubious, shallow or irrelevant value, so why do it at all. 5 – Not wanting to do it Ah, we have arrived at last. They know what happens to "nails that stick out" and they know that challenging your whacky ideas is a path to pain. There is "no way" I am going to do this, but I will snow you and just say "I don’t understand". So facing that sea of inscrutable staff faces, all certified masters of silence and obfuscation, how do we work out what is the problem. Some gentle probing will ascertain whether they don’t know what to do. For example, "Have you ever done this task before?" will establish whether you are facing blank, terrified total ignorance or not. This usually covers off Hidden Responses 1 & 2. If the answer is "No", the boss penchant for muscling up to the bar and displaying vast knowledge, capability, and experience should be avoided, unless you want to be doing their job as well as your own, with no reduction in headcount and no increase in your own remuneration. If the answer is "Yes", we move on to see if Number 3 - self doubt - is the issue. "Is there anything about this task this time which you think is going be difficult (code word for "impossible" when rendered back into Japanese as "muzukashii"). If the answer comes back as a "No" or lists concerns that don’t seem insurmountable, then we need to see if Number 4 - the "why" - is the issue. Here some background on why you chose them for this task could be helpful. "I chose you for this task because I know I can rely on you, even though you are so busy with other work. The reason why this project is important to me is ….’ A "trial close" at this point is useful. "Are you happy to do this task?". If they say "Yes", we are off to the races, if it is a "No" then we are getting down to it at last. Their answer about why they are not happy will tell you all you need to know about why your idea won’t work in Japan. Always useful to get that type of feedback - just do your best to not nuke your staff member at this point. A studied pause, then "Oh, good point. Let’s get a few of the team together and see if it is possible to work our way through these barriers" works well. Good luck! Dale Carnegie Training has been helping companies manage "I don’t understand" for the last 100 years.   Related article by Dr. Greg Story: “Understanding 'I don’t understand'” Related video by Dr. Greg Story, President of Dale Carnegie Training Japan: THE Leadership Japan Series #2 - Management Smoke and Mirrors In Japan  

Dale Carnegie Training Japan: http://japan.dalecarnegie.com/ Often, the issue is the structure of the service model. Employ the cheapest hourly labour, provide the barest minimums of training, have non-professional management and count the money. In the case of Japan, they can also exploit high levels of basic politeness.Hot milk is a by-product of coffee shops, but try getting a glass of hot milk if it isn’t on the menu.When my wife was pregnant with our son, she avoided coffee and tea, but wanted something warm to drink. She became pregnant while we were based in Sydney, Australia (during a temporary posting) and there was no hot milk on the menu, but flexible Aussies and so “no worries”.The same coffee shop would charge her a slightly different amount each time, depending on the serving staff on that shift. They would just decide what they thought it should cost, as it wasn’t already specified.Back in Japan, there was a sea of hot milk everywhere in coffee shop land, but staff always gave a firm “no”. And that was that. It wasn’t in the manual.Order or request something outside the “manual”—beyond the narrow range of orthodox procedure—and the easiest answer is “no”. The politeness of the Japanese language masks a lot of service sins. The act of having to “think” often seems “outside the manual”.“Beyond my pay grade” is an expression I absolutely loath as it exemplifies a total lack of interest in being accountable for the success of the business, or for taking any responsibility for the sanctity of the brand.I have never heard the equivalent expression in Japanese, if such an expression even exists, but the mentality can sometimes be familiar.In the case of foreign retail businesses, there are not so many here in Japan. For those that are here, I am sure a lot of effort goes into not just ensuring the quality of the goods or service, the delivery logistics, and the brand integrity, but also getting the team to be flexible around “not in the manual” situations. If not, give me call!Call centres are usually great for examples of inflexibility, as the low wages, high turnover, short hold time imperatives, and poor management cocktail really packs a nasty punch.My credit card was receiving a lot of work and was wearing out. To receive a new plastic card with the same number, I had to lose access to my card for two weeks (I would send the old one back in order for them to send me a new one). After severe hand-to-hand combat over this, a solution was found (they sent me a new card and I sent the old card back).At the end of this struggle session on the phone, I wondered, Why was that so difficult? I was reminded of John Cleese’s line in the Monty Python’s “dead parrot” sketch: “If you want anything done in this country you have to argue until you are blue in the mouth”.Why couldn’t that simple solution have been offered at the start? I cannot be the first customer in the firm’s long retail history here who wanted a new piece of plastic with the same number. Why did I have to dynamite an acceptable outcome out of them?I recall recently being advised to “go to a competitor” by the person taking my call, because of her total inflexibility to resolve my issue.I won’t labour the point, but it was a simple issue around a preferred starting time. Her fateful words got my attention though. I thought, this person is killing the brand and losing the business money. Why is that necessary? Well actually it isn’t. However, it is often easier to be inflexible than flexible in Japan, so that is why we often get such service.My experience has been that there is also the inability to articulate sufficiently well the “why” it can’t be done. In fact, there is usually no articulation, just a polite but firm refusal.This seems more like a training, rather than a cultural, issue to me. Reality check: are your team members successfully articulating the “why” when it can’t be done?The more difficult to perceive service sins are in the corporate B2B areas. These are not low paid hourly workers, but are the relatively well-paid, lifetime employment, almost impossible to fire, types. They sometimes lack accountability for the business, and brand integrity is a concept totally outside their mental frame.Mistakes usually make themselves apparent at some point, but this inflexibility that is killing the business and the brand is much harder to ferret out.You, as the boss, probably won’t ever be told about it. It is almost invisible and like a “brand cancer”—ignore it at your peril. So how do we build that “go the extra mile” flexible mentality in our team members?Leadership and management are key factors in setting the tone of service delivery. Ask yourself, “when was the last time I made any mention about the need to be more flexible in our thinking about solving customer’s issues?”Or ask, “when was the last time anyone who works for me, in a leadership or management position, said anything to the team about winning more share of the pie by being more flexible than our competitors?” If the answer is “never”, or close to it, then perhaps it is time to raise the issue and explain why this is important to the brand.Another tool often overlooked is “values”. Whenever you ask Japanese teams to compile a list of their personal values, a lot of wonderful words come up—all the usual suspects (integrity, trust, honesty, respect)—but rarely do you come across flexibility.I do this a lot with client’s teams and have never seen it. What this says is that we need to consciously add this as a value. Articulate why it is important and provide stories and examples to “prime the pump”. It needs to be constantly referred to as a differentiator of the brand—“a powerful means of delighting customers”.Get the team focused on this and pray your competitors embrace inflexibility well into the future. Make a plan to go after their clients in the meantime!To finish on a positive note, I was recently pleasantly surprised by the flexible attitude of a Japanese staff member of a mid-sized Japanese hotel.Due to a sudden heavy snowfall in Tokyo, drivers couldn’t negotiate the hill near my home. I was one of these drivers, and had to leave my car overnight in the car park of this particular hotel, located at the bottom of that very snowy hill.Picking up the car and bill the next day, the car park vending machine had never seen such a spine-chilling sum and couldn’t deal with it, thus help was needed.After explaining why the car was there, the male staff member in his mid-twenties said something very significant: “Thank you for not obstructing the road outside our hotel during the snow storm. I will take responsibility and waive the parking cost”.Wow! I wasn’t dreaming after all! Related article by Dr. Greg Story, President of Dale Carnegie Training Japan: "Flexible Japan - Stop Dreaming!" Related video by Dr. Greg Story, Presidet of Dale Carnegie Training Japan:  THE Leadership Japan Series # 1 - Flexible Japan - Stop Dreaming