Bonsai as Insight into Business

One thing that many people are surprised to learn about me is that I’m really interested in Japanese culture. In addition to taking lessons to improve my knowledge of the Japanese language, I also consider myself to be a bonsai enthusiast since it blends together an intense focus on design with horticulture to create a unique kind of living artwork that I find inspiring in many different ways.

The word bonsai translates directly to “planted in a container.” They aren’t genetically modified or altered to be small in any way but are instead grown and trained to be miniaturized and realistic representations in the form of a tree. It’s an ancient practice that I’ve learned can teach a person a whole lot about things beyond gardening, and I find that a lot of its lessons can be useful when applied to thinking about running your own business.

Set Your Vision

When you start growing bonsai, it’s important to develop your ability to set your own vision for how you want it to grow and mature. It’s a long process, but you should still plan ahead every step of the way to make sure you’re on the right track. Setting your vision also means letting your own creativity, intuition, and foresight guide your very personal decisions around pruning, shaping, and training the plant.

In business, you always have to be looking down the road to assess the direction of your company and see if you’re building it in the best possible way. While you remain present and deal with the challenges you’re confronted with today, you also have to be aware that there has to be a plan for the future and one that you can continue to keep in mind as you move forward.

Have Patience

One thing about bonsai is that they take a long time to mature and grow into something that even resembles a miniature tree. Investing the right amount of time to care for bonsai is crucial, and it’s a real challenge to shape and style them. It can take years to master the careful and precise pruning and wire-training methods that are required to keep the trees healthy. You’re also quite literally “planting a seed,” and putting in the work now even when you know the results won’t come until later.

Growing bonsai is an exercise in patience, just like starting and running your own business is. Real, healthy growth in business just doesn’t happen overnight; it’s a long process that requires constant attention, time, and effort to get things done right. You can’t build a great and influential company without a good and strong foundation to stand on, just like you can’t grow bonsai without ensuring you do the work to train their trunks, stems, and leaves to grow in a way that they will be healthy and strong. This kind of thinking has always been true to my personality since I believe deeply in what my efforts today will lead to down the road with no expectation for current satisfaction.

Value Mentorship

There is incredible value in learning from those who have already grown bonsai and have honed their skills to create some stunning plants that stand the test of time. Your best teachers are going to be those who encourage you to continually improve on your own methods while also giving you the freedom to execute your own vision and plan for your bonsai. So many lessons can be passed on, and I’ve had the opportunity to learn from taking classes and speaking with others who are also passionate about bonsai.

In business, it’s also crucial for leaders to find mentors and teachers who are going to encourage you to think bigger and better than before. Their guidance and experience can inform and complement your own, and taking time to learn from a mentor will only make you a stronger and more thoughtful person who can in turn teach others.

Learn From Mistakes

You’re inevitably going to make some mistakes when you first start growing bonsai. Once, I cut a branch that I didn’t mean to cut, and it eventually created a giant hole in the tree. Over time, I was able to nurture new branches to fill the empty space, and the bonsai now looks even better than it did before.

In business, you have to always be open to making mistakes, and realize that it’s even okay to do so as long as you’re also making decisions. Though some plans might not work out and you don’t get the results you expected, you still make an effort to move forward and do your best while also trusting you’re on the right path. Even end goals change and evolve as you grow and develop yourself and your business, and the real reward is the process itself and how it eventually shapes you and your company to be better and stronger.