The best of our past, to guide the future.
We live in an age transfixed by the biggest, brightest, fastest and best. Companies with growth rates in the thousands of percent dominate headlines, with equally dizzying multiples on their valuations.
We are obsessed by the cult status of these organisations and what we can learn from them, their culture, their ‘tech’ and how they are solving problems or offering new choices at unprecedented scale.
In typical fashion they either blow up, or implode spectacularly, as characterised WeWork’s pre-listing fiasco or the devastating Theranos scandal that saw disgraced founder Elizabeth Holmes indicted on fraud charged.
What has (quite sadly) emerged is the equal delight with which people praise these businesses and rejoice in their demise. The question that remains is, what are we really learning from these cases that applies to our own sense of business morality?
A warped sense of time
Only a minuscule percentage of people on the planet have ever experienced the type of global disaster that Covid-19 has induced. Our historical highlights reel tends to revolve around the two World Wars, the 2008 financial crisis and now too, the Spanish Flu - ‘only’ 100 years ago.
While our sense of scale is entirely compressed to favour the here and now, there are companies that have existed for hundreds of years from whom we fail to take heed. Take for example, the distinguished Viennese crystal lighting business Lobmeyr, now in its sixth generation, having been established in 1823, or the artisans of the Wiener Werkstätte – an iconic assemblement of craftsmen founded in the early 1900’s and whose legacy lives on today. Even more impressive is that Japan has the honour of housing 56% of the world’s businesses over 200 years old, with the oldest founded circa 578. Imagine what almost 1500 years of history does for ‘company culture’.
While short sighted ambitions and performance are often cause for excitement and exuberance, the wiser among us have made their lot by ‘seeing’ a far wider picture. With legendary reputations in their industry, Warren Buffet and Ray Dalio invest in the macro cycles of business, not the fragile volatility of hourly trades.
A new lens on learning
When one reframes history and business in context, we realise there is far more to learn beyond the capital markets, modern technology and marketing that characterise that our increasingly unsustainable economic system.
Indeed, if one references wisdom, the deepest learnings are likely turn to a different source; to tradition, authenticity, passion and an ethos of generational legacy.
These historic businesses are born of true intent and with no ambition for a rapid IPO or VC round. They have their sights firmly set on quality and reputation, enduring traits that have seen them navigate far more challenges that we have scope to fathom.
So when next you’re looking for some inspiration, rather than binge-read the products of the latest start-up hype machine, I implore you to seek out the stories of those businesses that have never fallen down.
I hope that there you might find the sincerity that compels you to do what your heart holds most dear.
#learning #purpose #authenticity #artisan #craft #tradition #legacy
Image: Forward Festival