Your grandfather’s cast iron pan still works. The productivity app you bought last year doesn’t. The company founded in 1850 is still here. The unicorn startup from 2020 isn’t.

Time is the ultimate stress test. What survives carries information about what works.

This is the Lindy Effect. For non-perishable things — ideas, tools, practices, institutions — every day of survival hints at additional life expectancy. The older something is, the longer it’s likely to last.

Most people chase the new. The shiny tool. The trending framework. The just-launched platform. And most of what’s trending today won’t matter next year.

Meanwhile, the things that have already survived wave after wave of change? Those deserve your attention more than anything launched last quarter.

Before adopting something new, ask: what has this replaced that was working fine? Sometimes the old way earned its longevity.