Metaphor: a company is like a tree

When we established Toyota Motor Company,

we saw our company as a newly planted tree.

At that time we had no knowledge of how to take care of and look after a tree.

Questions to find your values

What do we consider a beautiful tree?

What do we not consider a beautiful tree?

Questions to find your principles

What decisions have we made today that made the tree more beautiful?

What decisions have we made today that did not make the tree more beautiful?

What can we learn from this to ensure that the tree will be even more beautiful tomorrow?

values:

Those values defined how we should always be towards our tree.

most important value

Satisfying our customers' needs was the same thing as a beautiful tree.

methods

Methods were our best way of looking after our tree every day so that it could be as beautiful as possible.

(src: Book: This is LEAN - Niklas Modig & Par Ahlstrom)