Informal Organizational Elders - Preserving Culture & Cohesion

I’m heading to Kenya to spend time with elders from the Maasai, Turkana and El Molo communities — part of a research project exploring how traditional societies maintain cohesion, continuity and collective energy across generations. These communities have faced extraordinary pressures, yet they have sustained largely cohesive social structures for centuries. My working hypothesis is simple: There is something these indigenous societies have preserved that we in the West may have forgotten — the role of the Elder. Not “elder” in the sense of age, but in the sense of experience, wisdom, perspective and — crucially — deriving self‑worth from supporting the community rather than advancing oneself. In a world becoming increasingly AI‑dependent, the human connective tissue inside organisations — the people who hold culture, energy and coherence — will matter more than ever. Yet most modern organisations have no formal role for those who naturally perform this function. Traditional societies have centred such roles for millennia. If this idea resonates, I’d love to speak with people on my return — especially those who see versions of this role emerging informally in their own organisations. Please get in touch if you’d like to be part of the conversation.