Worth Considering

Mentorship: Older Than Empires (and Fishy Too)

By Mark Morgan Ford · January 23, 2026 · 1 min read
Essays on wealth, work, and the well-lived life — markford.net

Where did the idea of mentorship and apprenticeship come from? Social scientists tell us it’s based on “reciprocity” – a relatively new term that we hear a lot these days in discussions about human relationships, especially in business. But I can trace it back to a concept that’s a lot older than you might think. Older than companies, ancient kingdoms, or even agriculture.

It probably started with a fish.