It ain’t broke. Let’s fix it!   

There’s nothing special about the number 7. 

The standard week could’ve been 5 days long. Or 12. 

I say “standard” there, but it’s superfluous. There’s no such thing as a “non-standard week” anywhere on Earth to my knowledge – outside of maybe the few societies that remain disconnected from the rest of the world. [REF: Omnibus on isolated island(s)] 

French intellectuals after the revolution thought the right number of days per week was 10. 

While America had “Give me liberty, or give me death”...

apparently France’s motto was “Decimal – or die!” 

Starting in 1793 France operated under a 10-day week. 

The goals were: 

• Align with rationalism (read: Enlightenment period) 

• Eradicate the influence of the Catholic Church and break from the old regime. 

• And make people work more: 9 “on” days to every day off vs. 6:1 in the Gregorian calendar.
  
  (The irony of that last one is inescapable.)

The French Republican Calendar had 3 décades instead of weeks, each consisting of 10 days (30 days per month). 

They got the most boring guy they could find to name the days: Primidi, Duodi, Tridi, Quartidi, Quintidi, Sextidi, Septidi, Octidi, Nonidi, Décadi. 

Say what you will about the Romans, but I’ll take days named after gods and planets over that any day. 

Think Outside the Hands

For us living today, it’s hard to believe that a wealthy and (mostly) civilized country could embark on such a radical experiment. 

Kids assume that things are the way they are because of divine reason. 

Or some absolute truth. 

Heck, most adults do, too. 

Take, for example, the ‘base 10’ number system. 

Up until the time I was 16, the idea that there was even such a thing as a “number system” was alien. 

Like, numbers are numbers. Having a “system” implies: 

1. That someone designed it vs. it being a natural order of things. 🧑‍🎨

2. That there could be… alternatives?! 😱

But the only reason we use 10 as our base is because we have 10 fingers. That’s it. 

The entire mathematics of our planet operates based on a random evolutionary fact. 

Tallying the score

1️⃣ Give those guys credit for thinking outside the guillotine. There’s a certain hope and wonder one gains from reimagining… well, everything. Pushing outside the bounds of “normal” is what allows us to uncover new possibilities. 

🙌 Score: French revolution gains a point. 

📌 Takeaway: Leaders need to wake the f— up and recognize that most of the things society does are just ONE configuration of norms out of countless possibilities. 

2️⃣ But also, there wasn’t anything especially “rational” about having 10 days vs. 7. (Let’s deduct a point from Robespierre and his fellow foie gras-eating revolutionaries.)

❌ Score: French revolution loses a point. 

📌 Takeaway: Beware CEOs, politicians, and salespeople dressing up arbitrary opinions in science-y clothing. 

Making a You-Turn 

Kids don’t want to drive anymore 🤷🏽‍♂️

Teenage angst and thirst for freedom aren’t what they used to be. They’d rather play games and sit in cafes. Maybe American kids and today’s French workers aren’t that different. 

👀 But… for you drivers out there: 

🚗 Ever get super excited making that left turn and accelerate only to have that Volvo in front of you SLAM on the brakes at the last second to do something completely acceptable: 

A U-turn. A U-ey. Flipping a… 

(Well, you get it.) 

Left-turn situations account for ~23% of intersection crashes (U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). U-turns aren’t tracked separately, but I’d bet the per-turn risk is significantly higher.

A popular viral hook formula is: “I can’t stop thinking about this idea.” And then said content creator will quote Dan Pink or Mel Robbins and get 50,000 likes. 

I can’t stop thinking about this idea: U-turn signals. (Source: this guy) 

After several near rear-end crashes at a U-turn – either by me or the person in front of me – I keep wondering why we don’t have a distinct signal to indicate a U-turn. 

Is such a thing silly? Maybe. 

Marginal. Sure. 

But it points to something deeper:  

🔁 Innovation often stops where convention begins.

And think about it, no one thought we needed touchscreens and autopilot before Tesla. 🚙

Questions to ponder: 

• We should wonder, what are the structural factors that cause the system of innovation to harden in a market? 

• What inefficiencies are masquerading as “normal”? 

• What team conventions will help your organization lower transaction costs? 

• On the other hand, what conventions prevent your people from innovating?

These Go to 11 12

Napoleon ended France’s 10-day-week experiment in 1806 – a little over 12 years!! 

Some of the reasons it failed were predictable: 

• The Catholic Church resisted it. Many French citizens worshipped on what would have been Sunday regardless. 

• Workers resented having to work more (duh). 

Another cause of its demise may be less obvious: Other countries’ calendars didn’t align with France’s, causing headaches in trade and diplomacy. 

In contrast, the modern approach of continental Europe is the complete opposite. The big guys – France and Germany – whip wayward children back into their pews, so to speak. The European Union attempts to standardize everything from packaging to labels to road signs. Why? 

The Power of Convention

Simon Sinek reprimands us all to “Start with ‘Why.’”

But I’m going to end with it.

Convention is useful because it makes interactions more efficient. 

⇢ Interactions between people. 
⇢ Interactions between things (think devices, plugs, adapters, and outlets). 
⇢ Even interactions between people and things. 

Because standardization lowers transaction costs.  

(Also, “protocols” enlarge the addressable markets for major exporters – read: the EU bigs.) 

Plus, arguing about standards ensures that more diplomats have jobs in a post-conflict Europe. And perhaps more importantly, “enlightened” people get to assert their rightness about minutiae over more ignorant folk. Even countries have egos. 

Trading (Decimal) Places

Interestingly, standardization is at odds with a more familiar source of economic growth: freedom. 

The tension between common standards and freedom is at the heart of federal-vs.-state power debates in the U.S. and the growth stories of countries as varied as China and Singapore (highly standardized) alongside India and Brazil (freer).

India is admittedly not a completely satisfactory contrast, given it has high bureaucracy (thanks, Brits!) despite a low level of overall standardization.

Pretty Please

But let’s not forget its other utility: Convention makes interactions more pleasing. 

The rituals we have between each other are a satisfying glue between us. 

I say, “Thank you.” 
You say, “You’re welcome.” 

So don’t tear your culture apart in the name of progress. 

The peasants might just grab their pitchforks. 🍴

❤️ Andrew

Coda

The French Republican Calendar also divided the day into 10 hours of 100 minutes each. This caught on about as well as Jimmy Carter’s attempt in the 1970s to sell gas and milk in liters. 

It occurred to me while writing this edition that we always said “Dewey decimal system.” 

Our teachers were very particular about every child learning the exact way to say it. And everyone says it the same way, no errant stresses on the wrong word. 

Also, though, who f—ing cares what system the library uses? Why was it such a big deal to know what it was called and who created it? 

Did Monsieur Dewey have some pact with the education system to ensure his legacy would proceed through time?  (until the internet, and AI, and TikTok)

I blame alliteration. 

Outro 

B.I.G.: Ten Crack Commandments

Cheers

🍪 Let’s talk: Want your company to break from convention? Grab a free slot to meet with me, and let’s change that. 💥 🙌

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