They also continue to do the same things, in the same way that made them successful in the first place. Lastly, they are susceptible to what the political theorist and philosopher Hannah Arendt once said: “The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution.”
The perils are clear. Routine confers certainty, but that can also lead to inertia, through which successful cities and companies become comfortable with and stick to the status quo. In the best case, successful cities and companies simply regress to the mean. They no longer stand out, but neither do they fall behind. In the worst case, they are disrupted, as their successful current routines no longer service the demands of the future, and decline ensues.
How then can cities and companies escape these surly bonds of routine? Paradoxically, the answer might lie in repetition. In 1987, the renowned architect I. M. Pei was interviewed about how he worked. He compared it to a musical box, and said the musical box is extremely simple: It always has a theme. It has a certain repetition that does not seem like repetition. As a result, there can be endless variety based on that theme. This possible endless variety is what we can use to escape the numbing jaws of routine. And intriguingly, endless examples of this abound in our cities and companies.
Denne historien er fra November 2019-utgaven av PORTFOLIO Magazine.
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Denne historien er fra November 2019-utgaven av PORTFOLIO Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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