We Think About the Next Hour While Some Families Plan 100 Years

Most of us are stuck thinking about the next hour. Some families think about the next 100 years.

I learned that on a visit to a friend's ranch. I talked about legacy. He talked about dynasty.

Legacy and dynasty

When I talk about legacy, I usually mean what I leave behind. The people I helped, the companies that grew, what my kids learn from watching me.

My friend thinks in a bigger unit. His family has been in the same city for more than 100 years. Together they now employ more than 1,000 people.

That isn't one person's legacy. It's something several generations have built and handed down, on purpose.

The family charter

The part that stuck with me most was the family charter. His family has written down how they work together.

A family charter, sometimes called a family constitution, is a document that sets out a family's values and how decisions get made. Families use them to answer questions like these:

• What do we stand for? The values that should outlast any one generation.
• Who decides? How the family makes decisions about the business and its assets.
• Who can work in the business? What the next generation needs to do to earn a role.
• How do we handle disagreements? Before they turn into a fight that splits the family.
• What do we owe the community? Especially when a lot of local families depend on you for work.

Most founders I know have never written any of this down for their company, let alone for their family.

We're all stuck in the next hour

Driving home, I thought about how short my own time horizon usually is. The next meeting. The next email. Sometimes the next quarter.

That's normal for founders. Early on, the next hour really can decide whether the company survives. The problem is that the habit sticks around long after the company is stable.

I've written about this in a full calendar isn't progress. Busy days make it easy to never ask the bigger questions.

What a 100-year view changes

Thinking in generations changes the decisions you make today.

• You build for durability. A company meant to last 100 years can't be built around one person.
• You invest in people. A thousand employees in one town are neighbors, not headcount.
• You protect the reputation. Your grandchildren will live with the choices you make this year.
• You decide how to hand it off. The charter exists because the founders knew they wouldn't be around forever.

None of this means ignoring the short term. It means the short term has a place inside something bigger.

What founders can take from this

You don't need a ranch or a hundred-year-old family business to think this way. A few questions are enough to start.

1. What should still be true about this company in 20 years? Write it down.
2. Does it work without me? If not, that's the first thing to fix. I wrote about that in what is capping your growth.
3. What are our rules for hard decisions? Agree on them before you need them.
4. Who is the next leader? Start developing them now, not when you're ready to leave.
5. What do we owe the people around us? Employees, customers and the town you're in.

Building something that outlasts you

I left the ranch thinking less about what I'll leave behind and more about what I can build that keeps going without me.

That's part of why we started Outperform Ventures as a team instead of me working alone. I explained that in why I stepped away for seven years and came back.

It's also what I hope my kids remember. Not a job title, but the way we lived and what we cared about. More on that in your identity was never what you do and on the Leadership & Legacy page.

Most of us are stuck thinking about the next hour. It's worth spending one of those hours on the next 100 years.

Why so few family companies last

Most family businesses don't make it to the third generation. The reasons are usually the same: no plan for who leads next, unclear ownership, and family members who don't agree on what the business is for. A family charter exists to answer those questions before they become fights.

Founders can borrow the same idea without a family business. Write down what the company stands for, who decides what, and what happens when you step away. I wrote about the first part of that in who owns the upside, and about thinking long term in why I started Outperform Ventures.

If you're building something ambitious, let's connect on LinkedIn.