Where Have You Been?
Talking about our past is key to determining our future.
“The biological (if not the aesthetic) value of remembering is not that it allows one to reminisce about the past but that it permits one to calculate coldly about the unknown future.” — Colin Blakemore, 1976
Everyone loves an origin story.
From the first book of Genesis to Bruce Wayne witnessing his parents’ murder, we find satisfaction in knowing how people got where they did. Origin stories give us a raison d’être — a purpose for being.
Your own origin story and the origin of your company are important aspects of building a cohesive culture. They give your team a sense of where you came from, why you do what you do, what you stand for, and where you’re going.
I’ll give you an example of this in action.
Augie was an unlikely leader. His father died when he was four, his mother remarried, and his stepfather had no use for him. So poor little Augie was sent to live with his grandmother. At the age of 12, he had to give her eulogy.
Augie suffered from a delicate constitution, so he struggled to accompany his uncle on various business trips as he learned the trade. His uncle died, leaving the family business to Augie, who had just turned 18. A young age for such…
