Most Westerners prize practical knowledge and hands-on experience above all other kinds of learning.
They are also condition to approach work and other challenge is directly, aiming for the "the shortest distance between two points".
It is therefore, inevitable that Westerns in Japan, and those working for the Japanese companies abroad, will be mystified and frustrated by a great deal of typical Japanese behaviour, for to the Japanese the shortest distance between two points is not a straight line.
