Comment by ChrisMarshallNY

I worked for a 100-year-old Japanese optical equipment manufacturer. It had a lot of institutional memory (detractors like to call it “tribal memory.” I guess, because it makes it sound more primitive).

Lots of “wise old men,” lots of rituals, and “we just do things this way” practices. Long apprenticeships, tons of training, and a metric shitton of paper trails.

But I could always get an explanation for why something was the way it was. Not many Chesterton’s Fences, and some damn interesting stories.

It could be maddening, especially for a software engineering manager (Yours Truly), but they got outstanding results. In fact, they suffered some real damage, when they tried to leave a lot of that behind, and have since returned to “the old ways.”