Build the nest.

The right components can take an organization through decades -- or even centuries.

It is still difficult to contemplate: the firm that gave me professional grounding, provided structure to a personal, family-taught work ethic, and launched me into a consulting practice, igniting me to define a strategy framework, no longer exists. It evaporated 20-odd years ago in the wake of the kind of scandal that its very own founder would have been tapped to resolve, back in the early 20th century. Ironic, yes, and a demise that caught many by surprise. Two conclusions make the turn of events useful in the current environment. First, when successive generations of an organization’s leadership cling to and evangelize purpose, vision, and values — letting these three elements drive strategy and validate it in contemporary settings — and when process is honored and tough decisions made transparent — for all to learn — an organization can forecast and weather the storms of mistakes by individuals. As with strategy, you cannot put purpose, vision, and values on autopilot. Second, an extinct organization — and its ethic — can actually live on in other forms — largely through the contributions of its people to other organizations and endeavors. All is not lost unless we let it be. Yet the second conclusion would not have to be enough if the first conclusion is activated by leaders during their tenures. We must chase not only the opportunity of taking the helm but the responsibility of focused execution.

Orchard Oriole. Joseph Bartholomew Kidd, after John James Audubon. 1830/1832. Pencil and oil on canvas. Gift of E.J.L. Hallstrom. National Gallery of Art.

Lessons from war stories

Ryan McEntush: The strongest brands don’t hide behind buzzwords. They build their story on purpose and tangible outcomes. What matters isn’t how something works, but what it makes possible. This is the real truth. … Details and purpose are risky — they force you to show what your product actually does and why it matters. But that is what creates belief. They show you understand the lived environment of your customers, not just the market category or the unit economics. They can make the difference between a slogan and a story.

Operational agility is the real differentiator

Kris Cravey: The most successful partnerships between private equity firms and portfolio companies are those that value leadership, align strategy with people, and move fast—without breaking things.

Multi-generational vulture nests hold 700 years of human artifacts

Andrew Paul: Although bearded vultures are still found in certain regions of Europe like the Pyrenees, ecologists believe they disappeared from southern Spain somewhere between 70 and 130 years ago. However, some of their nests still remain in this part of the country, thanks to their strategic placement and solid construction.

Here’s what etiquette experts say could make the world a nicer place

Arricca Elin Sansone: Consideration and respect never go out of style, even if it sometimes feels like the world isn’t a very well-mannered place these days. But many old etiquette rules and social niceties are worth reviving.