And now you have it: the first leg. You are now a heron. You stand proudly in the middle of the swamp, with your ass high above the moist ground, your head turned up to the sky and you are enjoying the enviable view. Until the first breath of wind blows across the plan or you face a starving cat. Then: trouble.

All because idea by itself is worth almost nothing. It is merely a what of our existence. What would we like to do. What have we come up with. What do we think the world needs. What is special. What is necessary. What is everybody waiting for. Yeah, what. So what!

For idea to succeed, it has to grow from idea to a brand. OK, we could also call it something else, like a successful company, nice job, strong business, great firm, serious investment opportunity, golden nugget, the future of the world, eternal glory or a table at the hottest bar in town… Brand sounds better, because it incorporates everything a company is. A brand is far from only a word, connected with marketing and advertising in the company, it is the alfa and the omega of the company. Often it is also the biggest capital of the company and it’s value can rise sky high. And for it to have at least a theoretical chance to be mentioned at the next night out with the friends drinking beer, it also needs strong foundations. Foundations that will hold it even when the butterfly flaps its wings in India, as well as when the wild storm shows its teeth.

The pillars of the Pantheon

So what are the foundations needed for that? Pillars of the Pantheon, four strong legs for the solid future?

• First, as stated earlier, a what of our existence. What do we do. What is our business. What is our product, services. Without this, it will not work, right?

• The second question to be answered is a now very famous why. Why we do what we do. Why are we here. Why have we installed a motor in a SUP, why we want the whole world to learn programming, why it is good that our customers live healthier… These are the goals of the company and the brand, the purpose and meaning of our existence, it is our reason. Why do we get up at five in the morning and hang in the office until eight in the evening. Why do we do it at all. And even where we are going, why we are on this journey and where we want to get. Where we see ourselves in the next five years (sic). Why is the second leg, another key question which it would be wise to answer at a very early stage of existence of the company.

• Then comes our inner essence. Who we are. The values of the company, business and brand… These are the rules and criteria, how we do what we do. Our gods and prayers. What we believe, what is important to us, how we communicate with colleagues, suppliers, customers, clients. What principles are used, what is the ethics of our existence… Are we are honest or a priori ingenious fraudsters? (Both can be almost legitimate answers.) Will we ever share a part of our success, or rather die than pay a dime of the taxes? These are the tools of our work and the heart of our existence. They define who we are. We are who we are. And it is a smart decision to write these answers down, for example with Helvetica Black and letters two meters high on the biggest wall of the office.

• Then, and only then comes the fourth leg. Since this one is almost no longer necessary — even chairs with three legs can stand very well, they don’t even rock. Well, sometimes they can fall if the weight leans too much to one side. But three legs are almost all you really need. The fourth leg is a much appreciated bonus. The leg that turns the chair into a firm, glorious armchair, into a solid palace, is the identity of the brand. The how we are. It’s the image of the product and our logo. It’s the company’s name and brand. It’s the design of the packaging and tenderness of the cashmere wool, a friendly greeting and one-two-three resolving of user’s complaints. It’s everything what you can see at a glance, on the outside of the buildings, on the trucks, on the web site and in an ad, it’s your tweet and your likes, in short, it’s all you often pay a fortune for to the design studio or advertising agency. How can be a competitive and glossy advantage and it’s a great manifestation of everything that reflect your what, why and who. And that’s why you should take this piece of the brand very seriously…

Voilà, now this is a solid brand. A brand that knows what works, why it works, who it is and how it is. Beautifully stable, peaceful and firm, resisting all those average achievers that wake up some mornings with a more genius what, but don’t realize that it’s just not enough to have an idea.

And this solid, what-why-who-how brand knows something else, and it has the secret fifth element, the one that keeps saving the world and propel it a step further. This brand knows that it is not enough to have four solid legs, but one must also have the solid ground beneath them. Solid foundations. And that this foundations are its people. People employed by the company. Collaborators. Leaders and managers. Suppliers. Families. All who are involved in any question of those four legs. And because it knows that this fifth dimension is the most important, this brand finds answers to the first four questions very fast, but is engaged in finding the answers to the fifth question all the time, every day. Since this question is really not even a question. Because people are not a question. They are a fact. The most important one.

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Early Saturday evening shortly after the New Year’s. A cinema theatre on the outskirts of the city and in the center of shopping Mecca. It’s strangely crowded. Perhaps some have not yet noticed that Christmas is over, and others are already hunting post-New Year’s sales. The third exploit the last peaceful days of New Year holidays. “Go see this movie, you’ll have a lot of fun,” a member of the aforementioned network told me. At this time, I have to point out that I am not a member, I have not registered yet and wasn’t even invited. But I am a member of the family network, and these two sets happen to overlap, so sometimes, there is some spillover of information from one of a more or less closed networks to another one. Anyway, I fought my way through the lines of those waiting for popcorn and coke, with a ticket in my hand, found the hall/cinema, the tired seat at the edge of the row, and I was all set to party.

Five more minutes. Yawn. A look at my phone. I move my legs for two elderly guests to pass by my seat. And two more. When the next four make me move, I think that I might have dropped in at some sixtieth anniversary high school reunion. But this must have been a very big class, because they also occupied a row behind me and also a couple of rows in front of me. And almost all of them are looking at least an era older. So I sit there among them and I notice I have the least gray hair on my head, which does not happen very often. Especially not in this theater. I look around, startled, and I find some other younger visitors who are also amazed. Well, at least I’m not the only one. But as it seems, we wandered into another world, uninvited guests at the feast of another generation.

Then the movie, intended for some other social network begins. A movie? Can’t say much about it, as I did not quite identify with it. Again, I felt like I was on the wrong plane. Everyone is flying to hot Hawaii, and I was meant to be on my way to freezing Reykjavik. Everyone in the room is having fun, and I’m merely smiling sourly. “Ha, this one is really good!”, “Oh, I haven’t had this much laughter for ages!”, and similar comments fly around from the nearby seats. And their laughter is sincere and loud. Damn, that happens if you are listening to advice and don’t check what you were going to see.

And then I ask myself, how is it possible that almost everyone here is from the same “class”, only a few of us unfortunates had fallen from the moon? How did they know that this is the movie for them? Where did they hear about it? And I realize that I need to turn the focus to the phenomenon that is the real star of the evening. To the social network, one that beats those more familiar, digital, Facebook-ish and similar on every front. Because this one is infinitely more efficient. Almost mysteriously imperceptible, yet ubiquitous.

The Network of Legends

This network is immune to modern technologies. The technologies, underpinning the success of most contemporary social networks as a technology allowing unlimited, fast, effective communication. Communication is not only the condition, but also the reason for the existence of networks. But this network has developed such a sophisticated and diversified modes of communication that even if North Korea could crash complete Internet, their network wouldn’t even notice. An empty battery in the phone and operator’s antenna out of reach? No problem. Forgotten password for the computer? Who cares? Everything is delivered in a waiting line at the bank. At the gym. On Sundays after Mass. At the local patisserie while eating the sweetest cakes. On the street. Through the window. Even via mail (and not e-mail). At the “one-for-the-road” beer after fitness. In the waiting room for an orthopedic. At the anniversary. Even on the phone which has the wire tied to the apartment so you can’t take it with you.

And the information spread swiftly, so rapidly that modern technology could not follow this speed anyway. It’s effective. Everything is spread and known. Everything. The solution of the Saturday paper prize crossword? No problem. Where can you get the cheapest apples? In which restaurant was the waiter replaced and the new one is simply rude? How did that man earn money for such a house? Two for the price of one blouse? The movie you should not miss? What are the new “must not eat” foods that scientists have discovered can hurt your health? Who died? Who is divorced, who is getting married? How was the trip? Everything. And all of it fast, efficient. Information darting back and forth, expanding, enriching, coloring, and working. Communications platform that beats any other and is basically indestructible.

But this is only one advantage. There’s more though. For example, this network does not require registration and entering of tons of personal information. There are no monthly or annual fees. No membership cards. No compulsory attendance at meetings. No participation at the general assemblies and exercising the function of club treasurer. Nothing. Nada. It’s like a Swiss watch, ticking without any legal, formal, marital, familiar/kinship rules, and other clutter. It has no Code of Honor, nor a president, nor an election. Not even a rich, genius owner in a gray T-shirt.

But it has members. Many of them, lots of members, and more and more every day. Yes, indeed even less every day, but still all over, the inflow is greater than the decline. And what members they are! Not only are they extremely informed, but they are also the most experienced around. They have already seen it all, experienced everything. They know everything. And tell each other everything. They have been everywhere, heck, they are everywhere. All around the world, their members are in the every pore of the society, infinitely effectively. They know all about modern technologies (i.e., enough to know how to avoid them), about doctors, medicines, discounts and other benefits, sweepstakes, employment, dismissals, holes in the laws, and much more. They have their unique image, silver hair and distinctive fashion and accessories. They live more cheaply because they make the most of all possible discounts. Moreover, they are deservingly living mainly on the social account of which they formerly held together (meaning they get pensions from the State?). They are the legends, some figuratively, many of them even literally.

And they wait. Patiently wait and wait until we join them. Me. And you. All of us, if we only live long enough. Time will bring everyone around and a silent invitation is all we get. And when that day comes, it won’t do any good if we shout like Groucho Marx that we don’t want to belong to the club that wants us as a member. All of us, even the biggest skeptics, we will, and you will, get into this social network, whether we want to or not, passive or active. Forever.

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