2nd VERTex - customization solutions the Bonsai way

Why the bonsai tree philosophy is analogous to the health, growth, and uniqueness of your organization...

• The process of trying to sculpt a living, breathing, and changing organism, the cultivator (leadership) submits to the idea that the work will never be finished or complete. 
• Bonsai trees teach cultivators (leadership) about the importance of patience and humility.
•  It’s about connecting with the tree, understanding its needs, and learning its unique language. The delicate dance between human and the organic growth of the tree forms a partnership that represents balance and harmony, key components of bonsai philosophy.

Questions to consider when reflecting on your current organizational culture and critical processes.  From here, we can begin to suggest solution paths.  

Delivering Value

• How good is your organization at delivering value to your (internal and external) customers and at the same time, eliminate waste and reduce process complexity? 
• How often do you talk to your customers to see what they value? For example, are you generating extra work (overprocessing) on product elements your customer does not need or care about?

Continuous Improvement

• Are you continuously improving all your processes?
• How important is constructive feedback from all levels of the organization?
• Do you desire to learn about and improve your processes in order to outpace the competition?

Methodologies and Tools 

• What are the methodologies and tools you currently use to solve problems?
• How effective or sustaining is a process improvement?
• What don't you like about your current methodology and tool use?
• How often do you get to true root cause?

Trust

• Does your organization foster trust and transparency for issues and problems?
• Do individuals get reprimanded for surfacing an issue? if so, why?

Leadership

• Do you align purpose, strategy, and execution and provide clarity to everyone in your organization?

Once these questions are answered and explored, a program path and/or training can be tailored.  For example, some organizations may have already had exposure and some success with either a lean, six sigma, or 8D structured problem-solving approach.  Triad lean wishes to leverage existing knowledge and approaches rather than start over, meaning, if an organization is already using, for example, 8D, we recommend continuing to use and solidify 8D as the organization's structured problem-solving standard.

Of course, a customized solution is in stark contrast to the commonly offered “canned” training solutions.  Some are better than others, but again, the learnings may not translate into long term adoption due to not aligning with the organization’s “current state” and uniqueness.