added by sari · updated 2y ago
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
- Slow growth or no growth means the profits have to come from our being more efficient every year. Unlike the government, we cannot rely on an expanding economy to “burn the fat away." It's easier for a company to make a profit when it's growing at 10 percent or 15 percent a year. We have been profitable in years when we grew only a few percent by i... See more
from Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
sari added 3y ago
- Can a company that wants to make the best-quality outdoor clothing in the world be the size of Nike? Can a ten-table, three-star French restaurant retain its third star when it adds fifty tables? Can you have it all? The question haunted me throughout the 1980s as Patagonia evolved.
from Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
sari added 3y ago
- The ship's carpenter on Shackleton's lifeboat the James Caird took only three simple hand tools with him on the passage from Antarctica to South Georgia Island, knowing that, if he needed to, he could build another boat with only those tools. I believe the way toward mastery of any endeavor is to work toward simplicity; replace complex technology w... See more
from Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
sari added 3y ago
- With clearly defined quality criteria for all aspects of a product, it becomes a straightforward matter to judge which are the best clothes-or automobiles, wines, or hamburgers.
from Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
sari added 3y ago
- For the most part the big problems have been solved, and there were no crises except those that were invented by management to keep the company in yarak, a falconry term meaning when your falcon is superalert, hungry, but not weak, and ready to hunt.
from Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
sari added 3y ago
- People have too many choices these days. They are tired of constantly having to make decisions, particularly when it takes a major effort to make intelligent decisions-i.e., knowing the difference between all the breathable/waterproof fabrics. For most people, separating the men's styles from the women's is hard enough. The best restaurants in the ... See more
from Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
sari added 3y ago
- Maintaining a sense of urgency throughout a company is one of the most difficult challenges in business. The problem is further compounded by having to depend on outside suppliers who may not have the same sense of expediency.
from Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
sari added 3y ago
- I learned at an early age that it's better to invent your own game; then you can always be a winner. I found my games in the ocean, creeks, and hillsides surrounding Los Angeles.
from Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
sari added 3y ago
- Our own company had exceeded its resources and limitations; we had become dependent, like the world economy, on growth we could not sustain. But as a small company we couldn't ignore the problem and wish it away. We were forced to rethink our priorities and institute new practices. We had to start breaking the rules.
from Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
sari added 3y ago