Is Your Office a Ship of Theseus? Or Just a Confusing Mess of Post-it Notes?

The modern workplace can be a bit of a bewildering beast at times. You wander in on a Monday morning, still slightly dazed from the weekend, and find that everything's subtly shifted.

New faces, new software that nobody understands, and possibly a general sense that the place is evolving at a rate that would make a Darwinian biologist sweat. Makes you wonder when you finally have that moment to your thoughts: is this even the same company you joined? Has it undergone a more profound, existential transformation that you were not even aware of?

This, believe it or not, brings to a rather curious philosophical conundrum involving a chap named Theseus and his ship.

I still have not figured out how my research into taking the family to the island of Santorini, something that would fit my ever shrinking budget got me reading about Theseus, who according to ancient Greek legend, was a bit of a hero – the sort who slew minotaurs and generally had a more exciting life than most of us.

Theseus also had a ship. And this ship, as ships are wont to do, needed a bit of upkeep. A plank replaced here, a new bit of rigging there. You know the drill.

The problem, as a rather clever Greek named Plutarch pointed out, is that over time, every single part of Theseus's ship was replaced. So, the question is, is it still the same ship, and if not, at what point did it cease to be the same ship?

Centuries later, some bright spark, a philosopher named Thomas Hobbes, decided to throw another spanner in the works. He posited: what if someone gathered up all those discarded bits of Theseus's original ship and built another ship?

Which one, then, is the real Ship of Theseus?

It's the kind of question that can keep you up at night, especially if you've had too much coffee.

Now, you might be thinking, "What in the blazes does this have to do with my performance review or the fact that someone keeps stealing my yogurt from the office fridge?" Well, bear with me. Because your workplace, in its own peculiar way, is going through a similar sort of metamorphosis.

The Ever-Shifting Sands of Office Life

Think about it. Colleagues come and go with the regularity of office coffee runs. One day you're bonding with Brenda from accounting over a shared hatred of the new printer, the next she's off to pursue her dream of opening a llama farm in Peru.

Processes that were once gospel are suddenly declared obsolete, replaced by some newfangled system that promises to revolutionise productivity (but mostly just causes widespread confusion). Even the culture, that nebulous sense of "how things are done around here," can morph in surprising ways. It can be more unpredictable than the office thermostat.

And let's not forget the clients. You nurture them, cater to their needs, and maybe they leave, maybe they don't. And that's not all, maybe you have a target market shift and now you are pursuing a totally different set of clients.

That certainly changes the company.

So, Is Your Company Just a Figment of Your Imagination?

Before you start questioning the very fabric of reality (or just call in sick), let's try to apply this to the less dramatic world of business. The point is, companies, like ships, are constantly being rebuilt, piece by piece. The trick, it seems, is to figure out what constitutes the "essence" of the thing.

• What's Your Company's "North Star?": Every company, even the one with the slightly wonky vending machine, has (or should have) a core purpose, a set of values. That's your guiding principle, the thing that stays (relatively) constant amidst the chaos.
• Don't Let Knowledge Walk Out the Door: When Brenda from accounting takes off with her llama dreams, make sure her hard-won expertise doesn't vanish with her. Document processes, encourage mentoring – basically, don't let your company suffer from corporate amnesia.
• Embrace the New, But Remember Where You Came From: Change is inevitable, even desirable. But acknowledging the past – the people, the processes, the triumphs and failures – provides a sense of continuity, a reminder that you're not just adrift in a sea of corporate jargon.
• Culture: It's More Than Just Free Donuts: A decent company culture is the invisible glue that holds the whole enterprise together. It's about how people treat each other, how they approach their work, and whether they feel like they're part of something meaningful (or just another cog in the machine).

The Takeaway: Don't Panic

The Ship of Theseus paradox, at its heart, is about the nature of identity in a world of constant flux. And while your office might not be facing quite the same existential dilemmas as a mythical Greek hero's vessel, the same principles apply.

So, the next time you find yourself bewildered by yet another organisational reshuffle, or you discover that your favourite coffee mug has mysteriously disappeared, remember the Ship of Theseus.

It's a reminder that change is a part of life, even in the workplace. And with a bit of thought, a dash of humour, and maybe a good strong cup of coffee, you can navigate those changes without losing your way (or your sanity).

Now, where did I put that stapler?

References

1. Gilbert D (2006) Stumbling on happiness. A.A. Kopf, New York.
2. Popova M (2016) The Ship of Theseus: A Brilliant Ancient Thought Experiment Exploring What Makes You You. Brain Pickings
3. Perry P (2018) This ancient thought exercise will have you questioning your identity. Big Think May 6.
4. Adams D, M Carwardine (2018) Last chance to see. Ballantine Books, Nueva York.