The Dispensary of Hope Blog

How can we let the long-view impact how we make decisions today? I recently read that “Brand is the embodiment of an organization – all the symbols, experiences and associations connected to it. It’s what we feel about a product or service, why we trust it. And when it delivers on both aspiration and function, it’s near unstoppable.”  It’s suggested that there are Five key characteristics that signal the presence of a sustainable brand – four Rs (relevant, responsive, reliable, and resilient) and last but not least a T (transformative). For today, let’s talk about being resilient. 
Resilient brands demonstrate long-term value creation that help see the company, its surrounding community, and even the planet – through challenges. Levi-Strauss’s bold commitments to human rights and consistently strong environmental performance have helped to make it a widely and consistently admired company even as the apparel industry has evolved and fashions have continued to change. Recently, GE has leveraged the success of its ecomagination campaign, which encompasses a wide range of energy solutions, to tackle another critical need – healthcare. Healthymagination intends to help doctors and hospitals deliver quality healthcare at lower costs. In turn, Google’s decision to cease operations in China over censorship concerns is not only in line with Google’s ambition to be a transparent company, but it is considered an important sustainability development as it continues the fight for greater transparency worldwide.

At the Dispensary of Hope, we have developed a rubrick to help us make short-term decisions that align with our long-term priorities. Still, it takes discipline to follow it. When funding is involved, in the non-profit space, it is tempting to chase dollars and let temporary funding drive program expansion. This may be a necessity to balance a budget periodically, but long-term resilientcy requires discipline and focus.  The leader of a prominent family foundation recently reminded our leadership team that, “we are defined as much by what we say no to as what we say yes to”.