Why do some institutions last for centuries while others collapse within a decade?
It's not luck. It's architecture.
Why Architecture, Not Management
Most institutional failures aren't caused by bad people or poor decisions. They're caused by structural misalignment—capital that operates on different timescales than the missions it serves.
We study why some institutions last for centuries while others collapse within decades. The difference is architecture.
Recent News
Board Observer, State Library Victoria
Roshan Ghadamian, Principal Researcher at IRSA, commenced a board observership role with State Library Victoria—Australia's oldest public library and one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere—as part of the Observership Program.
Institutional Operating Architecture (IOA) formalised
IRSA formalised the Institutional Operating Architecture framework, identifying the missing institutional layer between governance and risk—governing participation, learning, commitment, and escalation across time.
Public-Private Partnership diagnostic released
IRSA released a structural diagnostic explaining why public-private partnerships systematically fail—four fragility cycles ensure extraction rather than creation is the structural outcome, regardless of intent or governance quality.
Four questions. Clear answers.
The Mismatch That Breaks Institutions
Funding cycles are 10–100× shorter than mission cycles. This structural gap is why good organizations fail.
Funding Cycles
1–7 years
Mission Cycles
25–100+ years
Every time a funding cycle ends, institutions face potential collapse. Our research addresses this structural fragility.
The Research
Four problem areas. Each with frameworks, explainers, and practical tools.
What our research reveals
Core findings from our work on institutional architecture, capital design, and governance systems.
Impact funds don't fail spectacularly—they erode gradually through small compromises that seem reasonable in isolation.
Semantic Finance
IRSA Institute
The average impact fund experiences measurable mission drift within 7 years of founding.
Purpose Erosion Research
IRSA Institute
Institutions forget not because people fail to remember, but because authority is bound to officeholders rather than to enduring commitments.
Institutional Learning Architecture
IRSA Institute
Engage at Your Level
Serious research made accessible. Start wherever makes sense.
Organizations That Embody These Principles
We didn't help them. We're studying what made them work.
For Organizations Ready to Try Something Different
We apply these frameworks with partners—testing what works, building proof points together. If standard approaches haven't worked, let's talk.