This article first appeared in the February, 2005 edition of the Jacksonville Business Journal
Traditions are special for all of us. Something becomes a tradition because it worked well, set a standard for the future, or we liked it so much that we kept it. Over time it becomes "the way." Traditions help us mark special events and celebrate occasions. They give us guidelines for how to act under certain circumstances.
Often the original reasons for a tradition may have disappeared, but the tradition remains because it is a tradition. It no longer has meaning, and occasionally can actually be harmful. But traditions tend to be continued without question. Challenging a well-established tradition is often treated like heresy.
Here are a couple of stories where traditions remained long after the original reasons were gone.
U.S. Railroad
The U.S. railroad gauge - the space between the two rails - is exactly four feet, eight and a half inches. Doesn't that number seem odd? It doesn't match any standard measures. It doesn't seem to make sense, although it is the well-established standard. How did that happen?
It seems that the people who built our first rail lines were the same people who built the pre-rail tramways in England. When they built the pre-railroad tramways they used the same tools and jigs that had been used for the wagons that preceded them.
That makes sense. But why were the wagons built at such an odd measure? An examination revealed that the old dirt roads in England had deeply grooved ruts, and this was the distance that the wagons needed to fit into these pre-existing ruts.
So, where did the original ruts come from? The original ruts were created by Roman chariots when the Rome Empire occupied England. Since all the Roman chariots were made to a standard for wartime use, their wheels created the ruts that became the basis for the wagons and then the railroads.
But the width is still curious. The Romans were great engineers. Why would they have picked such an odd distance? The answer is a simple one. A chariot was made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses running side by side. And that's how the distance was established.
Here's the rub. When Thiokol was building the booster rockets for the space shuttle, they designed a rocket that was wider than the one that is used today. But the wider rockets had to be shipped by rail - going through a mountain tunnel just wide enough for the train - so the rockets had to be trimmed down to fit the existing track. Seems like the Roman Empire is still impacting our technology...even today.
The Christmas Ham
Here's another "tradition" story. A young girl was watching her mother prepare the Christmas ham. She noticed that Mom cut a generous hunk off each end of the ham - almost a third combined - and asked her why she did that. Her mother replied: "We've always done it that way." When asked again, Mom stopped, thought a minute and said: "I really don't know why. Ask your grandmother."
So the little girl went to Grandma and asked the same question, with the same answer: "We've always done it that way." When pressed again, Grandma sent the little girl Great Grandma. Maybe she knew.
The little girl asked Great Grandma why her family had the tradition of cutting a big slice off each end of the ham before cooking it. Great Grandma stopped and thought about, puzzled. Then she smiled and said: "I came here from the old country. In those days ovens were much smaller and there wasn't enough room for the whole ham, so we had to make it smaller to fit inside for cooking."
Another great example of a tradition that remained although it no longer had any value.
Understand your Traditions
I hold some of my traditions dearly like the rest of us. Traditions give us the boundaries and the comfort of stability and continuity in our lives. But sometimes traditions - especially business traditions - develop a life of their own even when there is no remaining purpose for them. So the next time you hear someone answer a question with "Because that's the way we've always done it..." listen harder and take a look. Perhaps you might find a business practice that makes no more sense than the back end of a horse.
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