This article represents my idea of a company/enterprise. History abounds with great empires that endured for centuries: the Pandyan Empire, Mauryan Empire, Gupta Dynasty, Chola Dynasty, Roman Empire, and many more. They did not merely rule; they shaped civilizations.
The Power of Timeframes: Scaling Ambition to Shape the World
When the human mind aspires, it operates within timeframes. The expanse of that timeframe determines the magnitude of impact on the world. This holds irrespective of the aspiration's nobility - whether self-centric or humanity-centric. The outcome may be positive or negative, but a greater timeframe amplifies the effect profoundly. Shorter horizons limit creation. A worker below the poverty line or in poverty focuses on the next meal. A middle-class employee eyes the next salary or annual bonus. A venture capitalist plans for a decade-long return. There is no inherent wrong in setting a very small timeframe. Often, no choice exists. But the problem is - this mindset constricts opportunities, denying greater freedom for oneself and others. Expand the timeframe, and the pie grows: more value, more wealth, more upliftment for all. Modern companies are the best example of this. Instead of focusing on a good package in established companies, all the great entrepreneurs of our time opted to take risks, to build something. They delayed gratification for years to achieve something. And the result - conglomerates giving employment to millions of humans while resource maxing for self. They built a bigger pie.
Defining the Civilizational Enterprise
In simple terms: an organization that positively impacts humanity for at least 1,000 years, driven by a very high pace of innovation. The greatest historical empires qualify as civilizational enterprises. They transcended mere reigns of kings; their success stemmed from an underlying potential to drive profound change. Today's largest companies mirror this - they propel transformation at scale (though we cannot label them sovereign empires in the current global political landscape). Sustained longevity demands ferocious innovation. A company plodding slowly, even for 1,000 years, fails the test. Slow change invites extinction. The fuel for endurance is the ability to change - itself and the world. Stagnation triggers downfall. History is replete: the Cholas, Pandyas, Romans - all met their end primarily because they lost this adaptive fire.
Is It Possible? Drawing from the Eternal Sanatan
Yes. Absolutely. Look at Sanatan. Not as the religion often recognized today, but as thousands-of-years-old wisdom (perhaps far older) that formed the foundational ideas for Earth's longest-living empires, and the far ahead societies (indus, harappa). Gods worshiped varied across eras and realms; that is secondary. The core scriptures offer formless wisdom centered on righteousness (dharma). Time-tested across millennia, its abstractions grow truer with elongated observation. (Vague discussions often focus here; I set aside finer nuances proven over shorter frames like decades.) Invaders came and went. Yet Sanatan endures as the oldest surviving civilization - steady and resilient. Its survival owes much to offering freedom and an unyielding sense of righteousness. Sanatan is the ultimate enterprise. It models how things should be - in business and life. In recent decades, modern business has compressed timeframes relentlessly. A very few think beyond 10–20 years. This breeds malpractices and scarcity mindsets - one major root of today's ethical lapses. Shorter timeframes yield lesser value and wealth: smaller pies all around. Building civilizational is feasible, sensible. It's a win-win for all. It creates opportunities for better lives across the board. I will succeed in forging one, or die trying.
The Distinct Hurdles: What Separates Eternal from Ephemeral
There are some common mistakes that affect all types of companies - wrong hiring, poor spending, bad service, etc. I will not discuss these here. My focus here is on hurdles unique to civilizational scale, irrelevant or surmountable for short-term ventures. Thinking longer term is a prerequisite. It’s the foundation of a civilisational enterprise.
- Lack of Urgency: Vast horizons tempt human nature to dilute urgency. This is lethal. We must charge with intensity. Build, improve, now. Complacency can fell conglomerates in decades.
- Openness to Change: Leadership and system must embrace transformation relentlessly. Resistance dooms even innovators. Examples: Nokia, Xerox, MySpace, Yahoo - all peaked then plummeted for clinging to the old.
- Impeccable Righteousness: It’s the foundational pillar. Every member must embody it unflinchingly. Without righteousness, there is no point in doing anything. Such systems rot from within: talent flees, newcomers shun, leading to inevitable death. If one trait alone builds civilizational organizations, it is this. Righteousness aligns everything else.
- The Mediocre Elite: These are the individuals recognized as leaders or strong performers, yet mediocre. They prioritize appearances - photo ops, narrative wars - over outstanding action. Such people are masters of corporate hiring games, and are hard to filter. Detect them early. They drive away the truly capable, then spread lies to justify collapse.
- Government and Monopoly: Dominance invites intervention. Examples: Standard Oil broken up in 1911 under antitrust laws for controlling 90% of U.S. refining, AT&T's 1982 divestiture split the Bell System monopoly, Microsoft's 1990s browser wars, Google's 2024 U.S. ruling as search monopolist, FTC suits against Meta for acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp. In India, the CCI probes dominant players like Reliance Jio. Scale invites scrutiny. One should navigate with flawless integrity or face forced fragmentation.
- Hypocrisy: There must be zero tolerance for hypocrisy. It erodes morals utterly. Counter it by anchoring in righteousness and karma's complexity - the essence of the Mahabharata, where actions echo across layers.
The above discussion merely scratches the surface. I will compile more of my thoughts about it.
(At Pensieve Labs, I am trying to build in this way).