Quotessence
Home / Authors / Yvon Chouinard
Yvon Chouinard

Yvon Chouinard Quotes

Rock climber

Filter quotes by topic

AllClimbingIfsCompanyBusinessTryingPatagoniaWayClimbsHappensImportant

Famous Yvon Chouinard Quotes

“If you want to understand the entrepreneur, study the juvenile delinquent. The delinquent is saying with his actions, ‘This sucks, I’m going to do my own thing.’”

IfsWantActionMy OwnStudyEntrepreneurJuvenileDelinquents
Book:Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual
Create image

“I've always thought of myself as an 80 percenter. I like to throw myself passionately into a sport or activity until I reach about an 80 percent proficiency level. To go beyond that requires an obsession that doesn't appeal to me. Once I reach 80 percent level I like to go off and do something totally different; that probably explains the diversity of the Patagonia product like - and why our versatile, multifaceted clothes are the most successful.”

DifferentSportsLevelsSuccessfulProductsActivityDiversityClothesPercentObsessionAppealsVersatileProficiencyPatagonia
Author:Yvon Chouinard
Create image

“Hiring people with diverse backgrounds brings in a flexibility of thought and openness to new ways of doing things, as opposed to hiring clones from business schools who have been taught a codified way of doing business.”

PeopleWayHas BeensSchoolTaughtBackgroundsOpennessDiverseNew WaysFlexibilityHiringBusiness SchoolNew Ways Of Doing Things
Book:Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual
Create image

“Evil doesn’t have to be an overt act; it can be merely the absence of good. If you have the ability, the resources, and the opportunity to do good and you do nothing, that can be evil.”

IfsEvilOpportunityAbilityResourcesAbsence
Book:Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual
Create image

“Who are businesses really responsible to? Their customers? Shareholders? Employees? We would argue that it’s none of the above. Fundamentally, businesses are responsible to their resource base. Without a healthy environment there are no shareholders, no employees, no customers and no business.”

BusinessEnvironmentHealthyResourcesResponsibleCustomersArguingEmployeeShareholdersHealthy Environment
Book:Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman
Create image

“When I die and go to hell, the devil is going to make me the marketing director for a cola company. I’ll be in charge of trying to sell a product that no one needs, is identical to its competition, and can’t be sold on its merits. I’d be competing head-on in the cola wars, on price, distribution, advertising, and promotion, which would indeed be hell for me. Remember, I’m the kid who couldn’t play competitive games. I’d much rather design and sell products so good and unique that they have no competition.”

NeedsTryingWarPlayKidsRememberDiesGamesCompanyHellDesignProductsDirectorsUniqueDevilSellsCompetitionMarketingAdvertisingMeritCompetingDistributionPromotionIdenticalGo To Hell
Book:Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual
Create image

“One thing I did not want to change, even if we got serious, work had to be enjoyable on a daily basis. We all had to come to work on the balls of our feet and go up the stairs two at a time.”

IfsWantTwoOne ThingFeetSeriousBallsBasesEnjoyableStairsSerious Work
Book:Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual
Create image

“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.”

LongPhilosophyValuesGoalBusinessCompanyStepsTeachTreeWeekEthicsFlowCrisisEnvironmentalManagersEmployeeAddressesCampsCashSan FranciscoSeminarsCash FlowYosemite
Author:Yvon Chouinard
Create image

“I took a dozen of our top managers to Argentina, to the windswept mountains of the real Patagonia, for a walkabout. In the course of roaming around those wild lands, we asked ourselves why we were in business and what kind of business we wanted Patagonia to be. A billion-dollar company? Okay, but not if it meant we had to make products we couldn't be proud of. And we discussed what we could do to help stem the environmental harm we caused as a company. We talked about the values we had in common, and the shared culture that had brought everyone to Patagonia, Inc., and not another company.”

IfsKindRealHelpingWantedValuesCultureCoursesCommonBusinessCompanyLandProductsProudMountainOkayDollarsEnvironmentalHarmBillionsManagersDozenStemBe ProudArgentinaRoamingPatagoniaRoaming Around
Book:Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman--Including 10 More Years of Business Unusual
Create image

“I live for the moment. I'm basically a Buddhist-type person. I'm just here right now, and I don't think about what's going to happen a hundred years from now. I try to concentrate on what's going on right now. But I'm really trying to run this company like it is going to be here a hundred years from now. That's what's important.”

ThinkingTryingYearsPersonsImportantMomentsHappensRunningBusinessCompanyTypeRight NowHundredBuddhistLive In The MomentWhat's Important
Author:Yvon Chouinard
Create image

“...there's no such thing as sustainability. There are just levels of it. It's a process, not a real goal. All you can do is work toward it. There's no such thing as any sustainable economy. The only thing I know that's even close to sustainable economic activity would be organic farming on a very small scale or hunting and gathering on a very small scale. And manufacturing, you end up with way more waste than you end up with finished product. It's totally unsustainable. It's just the way it is.”

KnowsWayRealEndsWould BeProcessGoalCan DoLevelsBusinessEconomyEconomicProductsActivityWasteFinishedScalesHuntingSustainabilityGatheringFarmingManufacturingOrganic Farming
Author:Yvon Chouinard
Create image