Adopt the Solution
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2-minute read
Be honest: who here still struggles with parallel parking?
Or maybe you want to learn another language, but you just don’t have the time or discipline.
Then guess what. I have just the thing for you.
Have you ever heard of mukoyōshi?
I came across it while reading about Kikkoman, the soy sauce company whose brewing heritage goes back more than 300 years.
That sent me down a rabbit hole about how some Japanese family businesses manage to survive across generations. Somewhere along the way, I discovered mukoyōshi.
They say that most family wealth fades by the third generation. I’m not sure how true that is, but the general idea makes sense. Eventually, a new generation arrives with little interest in the nitty-gritty of running the family business.
Anyway, I stumbled across a tradition so brilliant that I think we could all use it as a hack or cheat code.
It’s called mukoyōshi, a centuries-old Japanese tradition involving the adoption of a fully grown man to carry on a family line or help run the family business.
The basic idea is simple.
Suppose you have spent your life building a successful family business. Unfortunately, your natural successor has no interest in the business, no aptitude for it, or they simply can’t be bothered.
Most families would hand them the company anyway.
But mukoyōshi offers another option.
A capable man is brought into the family, usually through marriage and legal adoption. He takes the family name and may eventually take over the business, preserving both the name and the legacy.
You could say it’s adoption as succession planning, not sentiment.
Suzuki is a modern example of this. Several of its leaders entered the family through marriage and adoption, including Osamu Suzuki, who went on to lead the company for decades.
Its real purpose is the preservation of family, legacy and business. What follows is a far less dignified application of the same principle.
I think they’re onto something.
So, in the spirit of helping people solve some of life’s smaller struggles, let’s apply this old solution to some of life’s modern problems.
Here are a few ideas.
Parallel parking
Apply mukoyōshi to find someone who can help you with parking.
No more feeling judged by strangers as you try to slot into that tight space. When you get there, you just swap seats two streets away, and your replacement sorts out the parking.
Small talk
Next, they would need to be an extrovert.
They could go to weddings, networking events and BBQs, and chat and mingle on your behalf.
They could also help with remembering people’s names and handling those awkward goodbyes when it is time to leave.
You could authorise them to say meaningless things like, “We must do this again,” without really meaning it.
Returning purchases
We all need someone like this.
A gutsy go-getter who is not afraid to walk into a shop carrying an item, no receipt and plenty of swagger.
No more messing about. Just a straight: “Can I speak to your manager, please? Thank you.”
General competence
Imagine having someone more organised and socially functional to do your public-facing duties.
A straight shooter with upper management written all over him.
They can help you choose something to watch on Netflix, keep your Duolingo streak going or call the broadband company, sit through the hold music and repeat that you want to cancel—not upgrade.
Endless possibilities.
You still get to be the power behind the throne and pop in occasionally to approve major decisions and sign off on things.
What could go wrong?
There is one small risk.
Why go through the trouble of finding a mukoyōshi replacement? Why not simply hire someone to do these jobs?
A contractor leaves when the job is done.
I’m thinking longer term.
And maybe that’s the real lesson: stability does not come from forcing the wrong person into the role. It comes from choosing the right one.