Another antiquated set of notes (likey 2021) dug out to refine and complete, finished on 21 Oct, in the skies above Karamy, on the way to Hamburg from China
It started by stumbling across two rather separate wikipedia articles, while thinking about inspiration, and muses (and musaea, a post for another time). Both sparked an observation on the topic of Resilience - from an entity standpoint.
The Two Libraries of Antiquity…
Libraries have been the primary institutions of knowledge management institutions in antiquity. Great libraries could very well have been the ultimate amalgamation of humanity’s knowledge at that point in history. A scholar’s wet dream.
Writing had revolutionised the preceding system of knowledge management from the previous “Institutions” of passing down knowledge and tales through stories and tales. I would love to find out more about the etymology of Institutions - there is something about the permanance of writing and the performance of construction (by which libraries sit perfectly at the confluence of both). A necessary house and home for knowledge, at a time when lifespans were even shorter, and education, rare.
There were two stories (well, actually wikipedia articles that I’ve romanticised in my head): The Great Library of Alexandria, and the library of Ashurbanipal.
Both fascinating in their own right - Alexandria combined knowledge from the east and west into one place. While the even more antiquated library of the Assyrian king, maintained a healthy stack of records, even covering the munadne.
In a test of resilience - both of these institutions faced were confronted with on of mankind’s greatest friends and an equivalent foe: fire.
And the visual image in my mind was that of the paper scrolls in alexandria being slowly burnt away, and with it, an immense sadness of the knowledge lost at the time. But conversely, I could imagine the clay inscribed tablets of Ashurbanipal’s library becoming further hardened in the heat - its overcoming its negative points heavy and bulky clay media that enabled its survivability and readability many decades later.
To bake harder and more resolutely in adversity and cahllenge. A romanticised metaphor that one could perhapos consider….
The Worlds Oldest companies
Another observation that I would have wanted to pursue further during my time in the economic agency but has sort of stuck with me was the ability for the World’s oldest companies to exist. How have these as institutions, albeit on a smaller scale - survived wars, radical changes in political systems, people, and more?
Specifically, Japan (being the one of the world’s largest economies), seems to have an unfair share of such companies: Kongo Gumi is /was one of these long lasting institutions, with a history of over 1,400 years. Although it was acquired not too long ago, one can consider that its presence (whether based on its physical buildings or its know-how) still carries on to this day. It was a construction company that specialied in temples. Japan is home to the most companies over 100 years old. Not a small feat at all.
Reading a couple of articles suggests:
- Family Ownership, and family succession
- With a note on exceptions: eldest sons but also adopted sons are viable candidates
- Values of Tradition, stability and sustainability over profit
- Understanding its role in the community
- Balancing: Prudence and diversification
- Sustainability over profit
Risk-aversion is easy to be critiqued - but there is evidence in longevity too. They were arguably inefficient too. But again, there is trade-off between stability and ruthless efficiency
Further reading:
https://www.theceomagazine.com/business/management-leadership/japan-oldest-businesses/
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14635072
https://marcellus.in/story/why-so-many-of-the-worlds-oldest-companies-are-in-japan