At the fringes

There is a wonderful article about complex companies that survive more than 200 years. In many ways these companies are similar to cities or states...or even countries. For example, one of the aspects is that these companies tolerate and often encourage eccentric activities at the margins. This is very similar to the notion of pirates...letting activity at the edges be exploratory and provocative.

Here is a link to the article:

http://designmind.frogdesign.com/articles/the-connected-company.html