I’ve been a longtime fan of the Art of Quality podcast, so it was a joy to join the show and share some of my Outlast research. Host and investor John Candeto — whom you may remember from our Long Game discussion on power laws — pressed me on why I’ve been traveling the world to study companies that endure: from London’s Lloyd’s and Lock & Co., to Italy’s Riva, Beretta, and Giusti, to Japan’s Tsuen Tea and Hōshi Ryokan.
At the heart of it is this: for me, studying the past provides a living playbook for how to build systems that can withstand shocks and endure for generations. And the high-level pattern emerging across my research is clear: longevity comes from honoring tradition while evolving slowly, and centering trust with employees and communities.
These lessons, I believe, hold as much relevance for modern investors as they do for centuries-old family businesses.
Key quote: “I’ve been asking all of these multi-generational owners essentially the same questions: What is it? Why are you still here? What keeps this business alive? One owner paused, reflected, and said simply: ‘We respect our ancestors.’ That struck me. Growing up in America, most of us don’t have a deep connection to our ancestors. I know only fragments of my own family history — my great-grandparents left Romania and Russia because times were hard, and they came to the U.S. That’s the extent of it. Much of that history feels forgotten. And when history is forgotten, respect for it fades. Unless you grow up in a traditional household that actively honors the family line, ancestors rarely enter our daily consciousness. In Japan, the culture feels very different — especially in family businesses. There’s a profound respect for ancestors and tradition. And it’s inseparable from cultural beliefs, particularly Shintoism, which instills reverence not only for people but also for the objects, places, and systems that sustain life.”
The case for contemplative leadership
I had the chance to meet Patrick Boland a couple of months ago, and I came away struck by the depth of his thinking.
Patrick, who has previously co-authored a book with the Franciscan teacher Richard Rohr, shared an excerpt of his most recent book, The Contemplative Leader, with Big Think. I find that his arguments in the essay challenge many of our modern assumptions about what leadership should look like.
Instead of focusing on control or outcomes at all costs, he reframes leadership as the ability to influence others through presence, humility, and authenticity. His view is that the way we show up in each interaction — how we listen, connect, and act — ultimately matters more than any title or strategy or specific decision. At its core, what Patrick offers is a radically different lens for leading in uncertain times: contemplative leadership.
This is about accepting paradox — being decisive while knowing you’re not in control, confident while grounded in humility — and about valuing process as much as outcomes. He makes the case that we can only lead others as far as we’ve gone ourselves.
Key quote: “We can easily forget that the way we participate in everything we do communicates the kind of leader we are. This greatly impacts the way we show up in every interaction, impacting the quality of our presence in each meeting and our ability to authentically connect with, and influence, the wider organizational context. When our focus is on achieving big results, we can become too task-focused to consider the means we are using to get things done. We need to find ways to focus on both the means and the ends. This is where a contemplative approach to leadership is most valuable.”
OUTLAST field notes: Geneva — On watchmakers and our relationship with time
Later this month, I’ll be in Geneva to study the city’s storied watchmakers — Rolex, Patek Philippe, and others whose work has defined the craft of precision timekeeping for centuries.
I’ve long been fascinated by the art of horology: the meticulous engineering, the generational apprenticeship, and the pursuit of accuracy down to the smallest fraction of a second. In many ways, these houses represent endurance itself — institutions that have passed through wars, crises, and upheavals, yet remain tethered to a singular mission: to measure time beautifully.
But as I prepare for this trip, I find myself questioning what our modern obsession with time has cost us. The watch — once a marvel of craftsmanship — helped create a culture where every second is monetized, scheduled, and optimized. We’ve allowed the clock to pull us out of harmony with the natural cycles that once guided human life: the rise and fall of the sun, the turning of seasons, the rhythm of tides. In chasing efficiency, do we risk forgetting that longevity requires patience?
My hope in Geneva is not only to admire the elegance of a Rolex movement or a Patek complication. It is also to ask: how might we reclaim time itself? What would it mean to treat time not as something to be conquered, but as something to live with?
A few more links I enjoyed:
The Machine Stops (2019) – via Oliver Sacks / The New Yorker
Key quote: “Everything is public now, potentially: one’s thoughts, one’s photos, one’s movements, one’s purchases. There is no privacy and apparently little desire for it in a world devoted to non-stop use of social media. Every minute, every second, has to be spent with one’s device clutched in one’s hand. Those trapped in this virtual world are never alone, never able to concentrate and appreciate in their own way, silently. They have given up, to a great extent, the amenities and achievements of civilization: solitude and leisure, the sanction to be oneself, truly absorbed, whether in contemplating a work of art, a scientific theory, a sunset, or the face of one’s beloved.”
What’s Keeping You Up at Night? – via Matthew Stafford
Key quote: “We believe now, more than ever, that your success will require the aid of others — and that the best way to get that help is to start by being helpful. This book offers stories, lessons, and the kinds of questions that have sparked breakthroughs for thousands of founders at 9others tables around the world.”
This article Inside my study of the world’s oldest companies is featured on Big Think.
