It was a clone or cutting genetically identical to the tree at Isaac Newton’s ancestral home of Woolsthorpe Manor in England. NIST got its apple tree from the U.S. But Back to NewtonĪccording to Wilkinson, the Newton apple tree on the NIST campus was first planted in 1966 or 1967. It is also a consideration for leaders, in strategic planning, for work accomplishment, and in supply-network management. In the Criteria, organizational resilience is a focus of business continuity planning. The term resilience has always been a part of the Baldrige Excellence Framework and its Criteria, especially through themes such as agility (a capacity for rapid change and for flexibility in operations). (And we’d be happy to listen to and share those stories in Blogrige!) Of course, I realize I am vastly simplifying the term “resilience” when I mention this tree. I know there are all types of organizations who can better illustrate and tell stories of resilience-especially after the year we just had. Organizations must adopt an ecosystem mindset, embrace data-rich thought processes, and equip their employees with ongoing learning of new skills. To achieve resilience, leaders must cultivate the agility to respond quickly to both opportunities and threats, adapt strategy to changing circumstances, and have robust governance with a culture of trust. Organizational resilience requires agility throughout the organization.īeyond the ability to “bounce back” to a prior state when a disruption occurs, resilience means having a plan in place that allows your organization to continue operating as needed during disruptions. So, Newton lives on in Gaithersburg, MD.Īnd this made me think of the glossary definition of resilience in the 2021-2022 Baldrige Excellence Framework:Īn organization’s ability to (1) anticipate, prepare for, and recover from disasters, emergencies, and other disruptions, and (2) protect and enhance workforce and customer engagement, supply-network and financial performance, organizational productivity, and community well-being when disruptions occur. Years ago, it made several other clones of the Newton Apple Tree and planted them on campus.

Well, NIST anticipated and prepared for the demise of this treasured tree. What does this have to do with Baldrige-besides being a point of interest on the NIST campus? This arboreal clone from the garden in which Isaac Newton saw an apple fall in 1666 has finally itself succumbed to gravity.” Resilience on June 8, NIST’s official Newton Apple Tree toppled over and died.

I was embarrassed to admit that I couldn’t remember where on the NIST campus I had seen it.įast forward to 2021, and I am sad to share that, in the words of my NIST colleague Richard Wilkinson, “The Newton apple tree is dead. Once during Baldrige examiner training on the campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), someone asked me where he could find the Newton Apple Tree.

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