颗粒度 (Kē Lì Dù) — The Chinese Business Word for Granularity

What Does 颗粒度 Literally Mean?

颗粒 (kē lì) means granule or particle. 度 (dù) means degree or level.

Literal translation: granule level — i.e., how fine or coarse the particles are.

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The Real Meaning

颗粒度 = granularity: how detailed, specific, and broken-down something is.

High 颗粒度 (高颗粒度) = fine-grained, detailed, specific
Low 颗粒度 (低颗粒度) = coarse, high-level, vague

In Chinese workplaces, 颗粒度 is used to evaluate the quality of:

• Plans and proposals
• Data analysis and reports
• Product requirements
• Presentation logic
• Task assignments

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The Phrase You'll Hear Most

颗粒度不够细。 Kē lì dù bù gòu xì. "The granularity isn't fine enough."

This is one of the most common pieces of feedback in Chinese corporate meetings. Translation: your plan is too vague — break it down further.

When you hear this, the expected response is to go back and add:

• Specific numbers instead of approximate ranges
• Named owners instead of "the team"
• Concrete dates instead of "soon" or "next quarter"
• Step-by-step breakdowns instead of high-level goals

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How It's Used in Context

这个方案颗粒度还不够，具体的执行步骤是什么？ Zhège fāng'àn kē lì dù hái bù gòu, jùtǐ de zhíxíng bùzhòu shì shénme? "This plan isn't granular enough — what are the specific execution steps?"

你这份数据的颗粒度太粗了，能按周拆分吗？ Nǐ zhè fèn shùjù de kē lì dù tài cū le, néng àn zhōu chāifēn ma? "Your data is too coarse-grained — can you break it down by week?"

颗粒度到天就够了，不需要精确到小时。 Kē lì dù dào tiān jiù gòu le, bù xūyào jīngquè dào xiǎoshí. "Day-level granularity is sufficient — no need to go down to the hour."

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Why This Word Exists in Chinese Business Culture

Chinese tech and consulting culture (heavily influenced by McKinsey-style structured thinking and Alibaba's internal management frameworks) places enormous value on breaking problems down into components.

The ideal plan in this culture:

• Has a clear structure (pyramid thinking)
• Is specific at every level
• Assigns ownership clearly
• Has measurable milestones

颗粒度 is the measuring stick for whether you've done this breakdown well enough. A high-level strategy without granular execution details is considered incomplete thinking — not a draft, but a failure to think it through.

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When 颗粒度 Is Too High

It goes both ways. 颗粒度太细 (too granular) is also a valid criticism — usually meaning you're wasting time on details that don't matter at this stage.

现在不需要到这个颗粒度，先把框架定了。 "We don't need this level of granularity right now — let's settle the framework first."

Knowing when to go coarse vs. fine is itself a valued skill in Chinese corporate culture.

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Related Terms

• 底层逻辑 (dǐ céng luó ji) — underlying logic; the structural thinking behind a plan
• 拆解 (chāi jiě) — to break down / decompose; the act of increasing 颗粒度
• 方法论 (fāngfǎ lùn) — methodology; the systematic framework颗粒度 is supposed to reflect
• 结构化 (jiégòu huà) — structured / structured thinking; the quality 颗粒度 is supposed to demonstrate