The Paradox of Turnover and the Ship of Theseus

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about companies that have huge turnover issues — companies that have over 100% turnover in their hourly ranks. And that made me think about The Ship of Theseus, or Theseus’s Paradox:

When every component of the ship has been replaced at least once, is it still the same ship?

I wonder about how companies can preserve culture, let alone institutional knowledge, when the “ship” is completely remade once or twice a year.

The Ship of Theseus story from Wikipedia:

According to Greek legend as reported by Plutarch,

“The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned [from Crete] had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place, insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.”

Plutarch thus questions whether the ship would remain the same if it was entirely replaced, piece by piece. As a corollary, one can question what happens if the replaced parts were used to build a second ship. Which, if either, is the original Ship of Theseus?

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About the Author

Frank Roche

Frank started IFRACTAL over 7 years ago with Sarah Chambers. Together, they've created HR communications and HR software for some of the world's leading companies. Frank is also studying Flamenco guitar and origami.

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