On Houses Founded by Sovereign, Childless Individuals
We will let you in on a little secret: As a couple that wrote a bestselling book on relationships, we feel a bit like frauds. The more we think about it, the more we realize how impossible it might be to find a spouse as well suited as each of us is for the other. In the past decade I (Malcolm) have only met three women who I thought would make good partners in a successful, long-term relationship—and fewer men who I thought would make good husbands.
While we are confident that anyone can find a favorable partner if they play the right cards and expend serious effort during strategically crucial periods of their lives, most competent, well-meaning people have already passed critical age windows (for advice on how to utilize various stages of life, see “Life Stages” on page 739 of the Appendix).
Should we really cut those people out of our vision for the future due to serendipitous bad luck? No. Just because someone is childless doesn’t mean their potential for long-term impact has evaporated.
We use the title of Godparent to build intergenerational family alliances. One of our kids’ Godparents who doesn’t have kids (yet!) designed a House around the management of his collection of business empires with distinct names, value systems, and governance models. If finding a good partner just isn’t in the cards for you or you have yet to find the right partner or start your family, you can still build a unique culture now that represents the sovereign nation you have built with your life. It merely requires “playing on hard mode” to ensure that your culture will intergenerationally endure and improve should it not ultimately be kickstarted by biological or adopted children.
Side note: One of the cool things this guy did was design a ring he wears, which reminds him of the value systems to which he is committed.