Daydream Playbook Entry #2

“The Motto,” an excerpt (pg. 34) from The Dogfish Head Book: 26 Years of Off-Centered Adventures in which Dogfish Head Brewer & Founder, Sam Calagione, explains the inception, evolution and continued significance of the brewery’s mission statement – “Off-Centered Goodness for Off-Centered People.”

“In his essay, Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing at last is sacred but the integrity of your own mind.”

These lines became the mission statement of Dogfish Head, and the standard by which we measure our offerings. We would make off-centered beer and food for off-centered people.

I believed the most critical line in that quote paramount to our company’s identity was: “Whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist.” “Non-conformist” was the word I focused on when I decided to frame the short version of our mission around the ideal of off-centeredness. However, in the last five years I have matured as a leader and Dogfish has matured as a business, and I’ve come to realize that the true key to our ongoing success is revealed in a different line of Emerson’s quote: “Must explore if it be goodness for himself.”

I have learned that the whole notion of goodness must be at the heart of everything you do. Goodness can be hard to define but I liken it to a non-secular version of the golden rule – the idea that you should treat people as you yourself would want to be treated. Confucius preached it as well as the Bible, and it has roots and references in many cultures around the world. As a company, we have worked really hard to surround ourselves with good people and businesses that are successful, because they care more about people than they do about money.”