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Why Not Focus on Community Continuity and Continuous Resilience By Stephen Jordan

Austin Tang — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 18:29:52 +0000

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ISD Background

By Stephen Jordan

I had an interesting conversation today with a senior corporate executive. As we wrapped up, she said something that made me realize we really need to clarify that the Institute for Sustainable Development is trying to break through with new concepts that the current frame of talking about community shocks and stresses doesn’t take into account:

“It’s a shame you focus so much on disasters.”

At ISD, we actually don’t.

Our mission is grounded in the opposite idea: communities shouldn’t have to endure a disaster to get the resources, attention, or leadership they need to become stronger.

What we focus on is community continuity—reducing the harm from future disruptions and strengthening resilience every single day.

Businesses already understand this. They don’t build “Business Emergency Plans.”They build Business Continuity Plans because interruptions cost money, customers, and competitiveness. Continuity is practical. It’s strategic. It’s how organizations stay viable.

Communities deserve the same logic.

Moving Away From Focusing on Responding to Sudden Shocks to Addressing the Stresses Beneath Them

Too often, we treat disasters as isolated events—wildfires, floods, hurricanes, pandemics—when in reality they are sudden shocks that expose deeper, ongoing stresses:

aging infrastructure
brittle housing systems
fragile local economies
limited access to capital
social and health vulnerabilities
governance bottlenecks
outdated rules and planning assumptions

At ISD, we don’t just look at the dramatic moment of impact.We look at what the shock reveals.We look at the conditions that made the disaster as destructive as it was.

And then we ask the real question:

Why aren’t we working on reducing those stresses continuously?

The Kid Soccer Problem: Chasing the Ball Instead of Covering the Field

Every time a disaster strikes, there’s a tendency for the press and community leaders to act like how little kids play soccer —everyone bunches up and chases the ball.

#StephenJordan

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Thought for the Day…10/29/25

Austin Tang — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 14:29:07 +0000

Good morning, friends.

” When you finally realize that nothing is permanent in this life, you will become more tolerant, more forgiving and less judgmental.”

Have a great day. Stay blessed always.

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Thought of the Day…08/28/23

Austin Tang — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 14:39:09 +0000

Mistakes are painful,

but as time goes by, they

become a collection of

experiences called

“lessons”.

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Thought of the Day…02/11/22

Austin Tang — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 14:29:28 +0000

Needing
Nothing
attracts
Everything
If you want to become full,
let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn,
let yourself die.
If you want to be given everything,
give everything up.

Lao Tzu

#needing #nothing #attracts #everything #become #full #empty #reborn #die #given #give #up #lao #tzu #you

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Thought for the day

Austin Tang — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 03:07:14 +0000

Good Morning
Give every day the chance
to become the most beautiful
day of your life.
Blessed Wednesday everyone!

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The quieter you become…

Austin Tang — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 01:57:40 +0000

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The pandemic has closed down so many businesses, its not funny.

Austin Tang — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 14:57:34 +0000

A Little bit of COMEDY can help make lemons into lemonade!

A Little Comedy Can Go A Long Way..hehehe

But sometimes the only way to deal with it is to look at it in a lighter vein. We mourn the loss of the following businesses:

A local bra shop has gone bust.

A mining company has gone under.

A solvent ( extraction) co has become insolvent.

A manufacturer of food blenders has gone into liquidation.

A dog kennels has had to call in the retrievers.

An origami book company has folded.

An aerial installation company has called in the receivers.

A key company has gone into lockdown.

A watchsmith has wound down and called time.

An ice cream shop has had its assets frozen.

A shoe factory has been soled and employees given the boot.

The Heinz factory has been canned as they couldn’t ketchup with orders.

The tarmac company has reached the end of the road.

The bread company has run out of dough.

The laundrette has been taken to the cleaners.

And finally,

….the dry cleaners and ironing service have run out of steam.

???

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Thought for the Day…

admin — Thu, 24 Aug 2017 14:21:51 +0000

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

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