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Patagonia's Philosopher King (2016)

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Re: Patagonia's Philosopher King (2016)

#31

Post by 50208 »

davidw wrote: post #26
teachrdan wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a quote from his amazing book, Let My People Go Surfing: "When I look at my business today, I realize one of the biggest challenges I have is combating complacency. I always say we're running Patagonia as if it's going to b e here a hundred years from now, but that doesn't mean we have a hundred years to get there! Our success and longevity lie in our ability to change quickly. Continuous change and innovation…

> require maintaining a sense of urgency--a tall order, especially in Patagonia's seemingly laid-back corporate culture Interesting... so which is it? Is the "laid back" thing just marketing and they're running people around just like many other places, or do they things some other way?

It's not marketing ... it's a work smart, play hard culture.

Re: Patagonia's Philosopher King (2016)

#32

Post by 50208 »

tony_cannistra wrote: post #29
spodek wrote: post #6

I toured Patagonia's headquarters last year after featuring Vincent Stanley, who has been with them since 1973, on my podcast http://joshuaspodek.com/guests/vincent-stanley . The culture was amazing -- friendly, productive, supportive. I asked a random employee to join me for lunch. Whatever I asked about company vision, culture, etc she knew. When I asked why they did this or that thing a certain way, she'd say thin…

Both "Let My People Go Surfing" [0] and the slightly more CEO-palatable "The Responsible Company" [1] are must-reads for people who run things / buy things. [0]: https://amzn.to/31SyWY0 [1]: https://amzn.to/2Z80ZFS

1) A person should buy these books directly from Patagonia (not Amazon ... in many ways a business diametrically opposed to the Patagonia corporate culture). 2) He as a new book called "Some Stories". Equally good.

Re: Patagonia's Philosopher King (2016)

#33

Post by 50208 »

samvher wrote: post #11
JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #2

Personal hero of mine. He pops up in lots of mountaineering documentaries. If only more CEOs were like this. “I realized we were just growing for the sake of growing, which is bullshit.”

Yeah I really recommend the documentary 180° South [1] which has both Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia) and Doug Tompkins (The North Face) and has them talking about their philosophy and conservation efforts as well. (A guy retraces a journey these two made in Patagonia back in the 60s.) [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1407927/ / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC9k2N9z3SI

Watch the original ... 180 South was based on ... Mountain of Storms:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ympydy7f1Mg

Re: Patagonia's Philosopher King (2016)

#34

Post by davidw »

50208 wrote: post #31
davidw wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> require maintaining a sense of urgency--a tall order, especially in Patagonia's seemingly laid-back corporate culture Interesting... so which is it? Is the "laid back" thing just marketing and they're running people around just like many other places, or do they things some other way?

It's not marketing ... it's a work smart, play hard culture.

I've seen places where it's like that joke where the guy goes to hell and has to pick a room. The one room that seems most appealing has a bunch of people standing around in shit drinking beer and talking. Beats the other really unpleasant rooms where people have to stand on their heads on hard surfaces, so he picks it. He's getting settled in when the devil says "ok, break's over, heads down".

What those places have are pictures on their hiring site of people doing fun outdoor stuff or enjoying themselves, and a few stories of what a great culture they have.

But the actual culture is one where it's quite stressful and no one much really does the fun things any more than any other place, because ... "a sense of urgency".

I've heard a lot of good things about Patagonia though, so I think my cynical observations about some other places I've seen above may not be accurate, which makes me curious how things are actually run, day to day. I don't think it's easy to keep that balance, long term.

BTW: sometimes lots of urgency is fine too, but let's all be honest about it.

Re: Patagonia's Philosopher King (2016)

#35

Post by perfect_wave »

50208 wrote: post #30
spodek wrote: post #6

I toured Patagonia's headquarters last year after featuring Vincent Stanley, who has been with them since 1973, on my podcast http://joshuaspodek.com/guests/vincent-stanley . The culture was amazing -- friendly, productive, supportive. I asked a random employee to join me for lunch. Whatever I asked about company vision, culture, etc she knew. When I asked why they did this or that thing a certain way, she'd say thin…

I too was extremely lucky to visit the Ventura headquarters on a random trip to the area several years ago. I was going to get a "surf lesson" from Chipper (who I was half-jokingly told was the highest paid receptionist in the world) but he needed to reschedule. By happenstance, Yvon was there and he was going to hand forge a piton in the old tin shed ... the piton would be auctioned off (for the AAC I believe). Chip…

This is an amazing story. Thanks for sharing.

A movie I haven't yet seen mentioned in this thread is 180 Degrees South [0] which looks at a man following in the steps of Yvon, Doug Thompson, Lito Tejada-Flores, and Dick Dorworth who climbed the first American ascent of Fitz Roy after driving to Patagonia from Ventura, CA.

Dorworth is one of my favorite authors who's memoir, titled Night Driving, includes the story of the drive to Patagonia. I have read and re-read Night Driving countless times and I'm sure will continue to do so.

Dorworth's story, Climbing to Freedom [1], fully encompasses everything I love about being in the mountains.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180_Degrees_South:_Conquerors_...

[1] https://sustainableplay.com/climbing-to-freedom/

Re: Patagonia's Philosopher King (2016)

#36

Post by Dangeranger »

teachrdan wrote: post #25
spodek wrote: post #6

I toured Patagonia's headquarters last year after featuring Vincent Stanley, who has been with them since 1973, on my podcast http://joshuaspodek.com/guests/vincent-stanley . The culture was amazing -- friendly, productive, supportive. I asked a random employee to join me for lunch. Whatever I asked about company vision, culture, etc she knew. When I asked why they did this or that thing a certain way, she'd say thin…

Here's a quote from his amazing book, Let My People Go Surfing: "When I look at my business today, I realize one of the biggest challenges I have is combating complacency. I always say we're running Patagonia as if it's going to b e here a hundred years from now, but that doesn't mean we have a hundred years to get there! Our success and longevity lie in our ability to change quickly. Continuous change and innovation…

If you want to understand Yvon Chouinard as a person beyond reading Let My People Go Surfing, you should watch "180 Degrees South: Conquerors of the Useless"[0]. While Yvon only appears for about twenty minutes within the movie, his presence is woven all throughout the film.

Part of what made Patagonia as a company different is the no BS mentality instilled within him from his dirt bagging days spent climbing around California, Patagonia, and New Hampshire. There's a wonderful moment in the movie where Jeff Johnson and Yvon are climbing some first ascent and Jeff asks "what should we name it when we're done?" and Yvon replies, "nothing, just climb it, be done, and go home".

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180_Degrees_South%3A_Conqueror...

Re: Patagonia's Philosopher King (2016)

#37

Post by jancsika »

_kyran wrote: post #4

Is Patagonia's marketing at heart not Greenwashing ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwashing ) ? I get that they source materials ethically and do things way better than 90% of other clothing companies. Surely if they truly wanted to minimise their impact on the planet, they would rid their stores of sales and cut back on the amount of new styles/designs that they release. Where I live there are around 3 patagonia…

> Surely if they truly wanted to minimise their impact on the planet, they would rid their stores of sales and cut back on the amount of new styles/designs that they release.

Yes-- if Patagonia weren't a capitalist endeavor it would have a smaller impact on the planet. :)

I'd venture to guess that the largest minimization occurs because their customers can wear a large number of their garments for a decade or more before they begin to break down due to normal wear and tear. Moreover, one could send back any garment from any period in their history (barring underwear) and if it's salvageable they'll repair it. Their refurbishing program even supports at least one brick-and-mortar refurbished clothing store that I know of.

Can you imagine the environmental impact if Apple had anything resembling such a program? Or hell, if Apple simply ceased lobbying against the right-to-repair...

Re: Patagonia's Philosopher King (2016)

#39

Post by samvher »

50208 wrote: post #33
samvher wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I really recommend the documentary 180° South [1] which has both Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia) and Doug Tompkins (The North Face) and has them talking about their philosophy and conservation efforts as well. (A guy retraces a journey these two made in Patagonia back in the 60s.) [1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1407927/ / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC9k2N9z3SI

Watch the original ... 180 South was based on ... Mountain of Storms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ympydy7f1Mg

This is great, thanks! I was wondering where the guy who made the other documentary got the old footage.

Re: Patagonia's Philosopher King (2016)

#40

Post by nerdb4itwascool »

I've done a lot of work with Patagonia, visited their HQ numerous times, and have become friends with a handful of their employees. They are not driven by profit, but by a will to do what is right in the world and for their customers. This all starts and ends with Yvon. This is how you build a culture. It should be studied for generations.

I can't express how great they are to work with as a client -- smart people and everyone's heart is in the right place.

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