The More You Know, The Less You

I Never Wanted To Be A Businessman; I Was A Craftsman And Good At Working With My Hands. At Some Point, I Decided That This Company Is My Best Resource. Patagonia Now Exists To Put Into Practice All The Things That Smart People Are Saying We Have To Do Not Only To Save The Planet But To Save The Economy.

You Have To Remember This Was The '60s, When Climbing Was Dangerous And Sex Was Safe.

...it's Always Been Difficult For Us To Lead An Examined Life As A Corporation. I've Always Felt Like A Company Has The Responsibility To Not Wait For The Government To Tell It What To Do, Or To Wait For The Consumer To Tell It What To Do, But As Soon As It Finds Out It's Doing Something Wrong, Stop Doing It.

While Our Managers Debated What Steps To Take To Address The Sales And Cash-flow Crisis, I Began To Lead Week-long Employee Seminars In What We Called Philosophies. We'd Take A Busload At A Time To Places Like Yosemite Or The Marin Headlands Above San Francisco, Camp Out, And Gather Under The Trees To Talk. The Goal Was To Teach Every Employee In The Company Our Business And Environmental Ethics And Values.

...it's The Same With Business. If You Focus On The Goal And Not The Process, You Inevitably Compromise. Businessmen Who Focus On Profits Wind Up In The Hole. For Me, Profit Is What Happens When You Do Everything Else Right.