With Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JP Morgan/Chase combining forces, and Atul Gawande leading it, how could the Haven healthcare venture not work? Formed in 2018 to provide less expensive, better, and easier healthcare in the U.S., Haven is shutting down after just three years. In fact, it seems it never really got going. Several good reasons have been offered, including not having enough market power, the intractable grip of the perverse incentives embedded in our healthcare system, and the final nail in the coffin: the pandemic. One obituary writer offered a more basic explanation: that they were never clear about what exactly they intended to do — that “hazy goals or a vague mission or vision makes it hard to set smaller piecemeal steps to get to the larger goal.”

Ben and Jerry’s was founded with an unshakable core: a vision, mission, and set of values on which they have thrived for over 40 years. Remarkably, the Vermont-based ice cream maker has stayed true to this solid core even after being acquired by Unilever 20 years ago: 1) to make great ice cream using natural ingredients and following business practices for good, 2) to thrive economically for shareholders and employees, and 3) to use the power of their business platform to drive social change. When asked recently in an interview about the strong stand Ben and Jerry’s took immediately after January 6, denouncing the “failed coup” and calling for President Trump’s impeachment, and before that, their declaration, “We Must Dismantle White Supremacy. Silence is NOT An Option,” in response to George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter protests, CEO Matthew McCarthy pointed repeatedly to Ben and Jerry’s values — clear, guiding, and lived. And their loyal fans expect it of them and support them in an almost cult-like way.

Vision + Mission + Values

A few weeks after an eerie “lights out” when the shelter-in-place orders first took hold, the power began to come back on, and my clients re-emerged, but something was different. The normal mix of work had skewed noticeably to vision + mission + values initiatives — clients wanting to clarify their core and unite their people: what do we stand for together? What are we here to do for the world? How will we be successful together? I don’t get hungry for lunch when working with people and organizations to clarify their core and connect to their work — to clearly understand how their work contributes to the cathedral they’re building together vs. just laying bricks.

The next few Sunday Morning posts will offer tools from Jim Collin’s seminal work in Built to Last, and Ari Weinzweig’s wisdom in Building a Great Business, as well as tips learned over the years for “unearthing” the three elements of a solid core:

Vision: A picture of success at a chosen point in the future. It’s aspirational, inspirational, vivid, and dynamic — the equivalent of an architect's rendering of that dream house or community center. It is always in pursuit of the mission.

Mission: Our true north. What are we on the face of this earth to do other than to make money? It’s an aspirational and unchanging ideal we tirelessly pursue.

Values: The timeless tenets that guide our decision-making and behavior. They exist deep within. When we stray from our values, they nag us to get back on track — to pull us back to our center. Values are unchanging and not aspirational, they’re not what we want to be, they are what we are, what naturally guides us.

Next up: Creating a vision of greatness. Stay tuned!

Thoughts are welcome