The Responsible Company: What Weve Learned from Patagonias First 40 Years by Yvon Chouinard

The Responsible Company: What Weve Learned from Patagonias First 40 Years Reviews

• 
  Jen

  Just started reading this one because I really enjoyed Let My People Go Surfing, and Yvon Chouinard is one of my heroes. One of the reasons is that he is not afraid to scrutinize his company, his industry, and his own products in pursuit of greater responsibility. In the book, he and coauthor Vincent Stanley give compelling examples of how these tough questions can not just lead to doing GOOD, but also to doing WELL (more profit). They readily admit that Patagonia isn't perfect, that no company is, but it's critical to work toward the more sustainable end of the continuum and share knowledge so we can all improve.
  
  Lots of favorite quotes so far, including the following on pages 26-27: "Poke your nose into any store in the mall and look around. Much of what we produce to sell to each other to earn our living is crap... Every piece of crap, because it was manufactured, contains within it something of the priceless: applied human intelligence, for one, natural capital for another... We're wasting our brains and our only world on the design, production, and consumption of things we don't need and that aren't good for us."
• 
  Mark Peterson

  If you are serious about making your company more responsible to the environment and your employees, The Responsible Company is the book you should read. In the book, Yvon Chouinard makes the point that "Companies, not individuals, generate 75 % of the trash that reaches the landfill or incinerator. [Moreover], 90%of a product's environmental impact is determined at the design stage."
  
  Chouinard takes you a product lifecycle journey detailing how difficult it is to truly measure the environmental impact of a product in a global economy. As I do in my book, Guerrillapreneur, Chouinard challenges executives to integrate the environmental impact caused by their companies into their on-going business plans. However, Chouinard shows that a "responsible" company can not only implement these changes, the company can do so and reduce operating costs. The book includes templates and a change roadmap that companies can use to start their own journey.
  
  This book is a MUST read for every MBA student.
• 
  Ryan Kelly

  Listened on audio book. Only gave it 4 stars because if it was Yvons voice it would have made it 1000% better. I think every company should make their employees listen to this book.
• 
  Bailey L.

  This was a short book about what it means for a company to be responsible and sustainable. There were certainly some salient points on the topic of social impact. Moreover, the author did about as decent of a job as possible of it not being just a Patagonia love fest, especially considering this book is typically only sold in their stores.
  
  However, it was still rather dry and could have more stories from outside of Patagonia to bolster the argument and feasibility of the impact of having a "triple bottom line." I still learned a good amount, but if someone wanted to know the highlights, they could just flip through my copy and read what I highlighted and get the gist in about 5 minutes.
  
  Nonetheless, I'm grateful I read it.
• 
  ReadingMama

  Patagonia was nominated as the coolest company on the planet in 2008 and now, I see more of their products people are wearing… Until now, I have no idea of its founder Yvon Chouinard who is an avid rock climber, surfer, environmentalist and successful businessman. Born in 1938, he has always been alway interested in mechanical things, making and developing. In one of the interviews, he said the trip in 1968 to South America, Peru, Argentina and Patagonia changed his life, determining to keep the earth as natural and wild as it is, as his life mission. In this book, he talks about his business and life philosophies. His purpose of the company has never been the biggest one in the industry, instead of being responsible and conscious of social and environmental impact.
  He has used three core ideas in his business: 1) Know your impact 2) Favor improvement and 3) Share what you have learned. The first step is to engage your team, then prioritize what must be done. It is important to define what is your first success, then progressively work on more difficult challenges. Finally, share what you have learned with your colleagues, friends, media and even your competitors. That’s how you will gain a good reputation and respect among the peers. He has paid 1% earth tax of income (I think it is such a responsible thing that all industry and individuals should adopt) as donation toward environmentally impactful causes. His design philosophy is also focused on environmental conservation. 90% of a product’s environmental impact is determined at the design stage, so why not see from that perspective from the very early life cycle analysis? Patagonia is a groundbreaking company that practices environmental and social responsibility, in addition to its customers and employees. This is the kind of company where you can find a meaningful purpose that can change the positive impact on this earth and toward the future generation!
• 
  Joel

  Essentially a repackaging of Let My People Surf. That being said, the checklists provided at the end were a very cool addition. The appendix offers 30 or so pages of ways an organization can strive to be responsible ranging from environmental stewardship or construction methods, to employee benefits.
  
  I think Yvon does an excellent job to also emphatically state that all business will cause some unavoidable harm, but we should do all in our power to minimize that. Pursuing a symbiotic relationship with our planet rather than an exploitative one is necessary if we're to survive the impending ecological crisis. If more companies and individuals were striving to reduce the unavoidable harm they did, we'd be in a much better place.
  
  I feel that the acceptance of unavoidable harm also does a good job of pointing out that we'll never eliminate our impact. In order for life to exist it must draw from something. But we can strive to reduce our impact. We don't have to start eating minimal calories of veggies raised in our backyard eking out a painful life of bare sustenance. But maybe we could reduce the amount of industrial agricultural products we consume. Or we could buy that new book we've had our eye on at a local indie shop shop instead of impulse buying on Amazon. Maybe little by little we can turn inward to our local communities and weave a network of responsible, sustainable towns and cities to enrich the global web of life. Maybe this just utopian idealism but what's the worst that could happen?
• 
  Kristi

  A book that I wish everyone could read.
  I admire the way they ask the hard questions for a business on a wide scale. Their devotion to raising the standard for a world-wide companies social and environmental responsibilities feel groundbreaking. They give a glimpse of hope for a company to put their people and their purpose beyond an immediate profit.
  This book captures everything that is important for raising and upholding these standards, while doing so in a way that anyone can understand and implement. Being so that it is their story and they are still playing it out!
• 
  Joe

  Cool peak behind the curtain of challenges that Patagonia has faced and how they have threaded (pun intended) them through their corporate charter. There are some pretty cool lessons learned and thoughts on sustainable economies being attuned to natural regeneration of ecosystems. I enjoyed this short read.
• 
  Severine83

  It was a good book in 2012 , but now and also being on the textile production I didn’t learn many things
• 
  Mary

  This was a pretty good sequel to 'Surfing' and just about as inspiring. Choinard reminds us that regardless of what we're doing in our lives we have a responsibility to make it right, whether that be the workers who make our products or the raw materials that go into them. Do we embrace a cradle to grave philosophy in our product lifecycle? Are the people that create and manufacture our products made to feel successful and secure? What about our customers? Does our product satisfy the needs that they were seeking? The book opens our eyes these and other sustainable questions that we might not otherwise think about. Choinard is humble, he admits that in the beginning they (Patagonia) didn't either but are now constantly challenging each other with possible better ways to make their products.
  
  What if we were to step back and assess the impact our decisions make on the lives of others and our planet? Would we change our ways? After reading this book (and Surfing) I know I will. I hope you will too.
• 
  Lucy

  Vstupujeme do fáze post-konzumní společnosti, protože ekonomika založená pouze na spotřebě přežila sebe i své základní principy - už neposkytuje dostatek dobře placených pracovních míst a kromě toho si otravuje vlastní studnu. Kniha je příkladem že to může být i jinak. Prvních 122 stránek je super, ale lepší je příloha s praktickými pokyny "doporučený seznma". Inspirativní knížka.
• 
  mabelle theresa

  This book put my consumer perspective into the background of what actually happens.
  
  In a pursuit to live a life of less with greater meaning. This book was a great reminder of how powerful it is to live simply. Yvon Chouinard from the beginning created his company to reflect his values and attract the people that want to do better for the world.
  
  Before I used to mindlessly consume and try to obtain the 'best' item at a lower price. However, now that I'm becoming more intentional with my decision and the things that I do bring in, I am even more appreciative and aware of the series of steps that it takes from the design team, to the growers, harvesters, sewers, quality control, retail associates, and managers involved just to actually put a cotton shirt and sell it on a hanger in the store.
  
  "Were we to grow less distracted by our consumerism and consumption, and to spend more time with friends and family, or work with people we want to help, or learn something we have always wanted to be able to do, wouldn't that make up for the missing yet another sale at the mall? The pursuit of national wealth through trade of increasingly useless things has for a few decades kept us in more clothes than we need, but has nothing to do with the pursuit of happiness. And it simply no longer works."
• 
  Daniel

  If this was required reading in business school, the climate catastrophe would be much slower approaching. Not only a case study of what Patagonia has done to go from irresponsible to responsible company but also a timeline of the movement in the US. This book opened me up to many more elements of how businesses (read people) can make a positive impact on nature. Inspiring me to take action in my workplace and now I have more tools to be effective (doing more does not always mean doing better).
• 
  Michal

  The book tells the story how owners of Patagonia (back in nineties) were realizing the impact of their supply chain (polution by the factories, bad working conditions for the workers) and how they started negotiating with their factories and suppliers.
  
  It gives only some level of detail on how cotton is grown and why current way of growing it is not sustainable, or some examples of working conditions.
  
  However, I expected much greater level of detail and more of the stories of specific people, negotiations etc.
• 
  LuckyYogi

  Opened my eyes about how not only Patagonia carries out their business, but how the clothing industry has quite an impact on our natural resources...
  
  I used to be biased against Patagonia just based on what I see, what is marketed as their image. In my opinion, Patagonia really doesn't market enough toward mountaineers. My friend let me borrow this book and I was open to it. I now have an appreciation for the company as a whole.
• 
  Andrew Westphal

  This book is not much more than the pale shadow cast by Chouinard's book "Let My People Go Surfing" in the florescent lighting of a business-school classroom.
  The checklists at the end of the book are a helpful resource for (aspiring) enviros to bring these topics of sustainability to their own workplaces, but it was generally a letdown as I progress through Patagonia's 3-volume library set.
• 
  Mikayla Imrie

  I’ve never been let down with any of Patagonia’s books. Truly insightful and inspiring. I found the part of not segregating the environmental professionals in a company in order to promote all employees to value the environment in their work extremely interesting. A great read for anyone in business and that could potentially make an impact no matter your role.
• 
  Delibria

  Tres cosas que aprendí del libro:
  
  ✅ El 90% del impacto medioambiental que tiene un producto se establece desde su diseño.
  
  ✅ 2/3 de la basura se produce desde la industria, no por los consumidores.
  
  ✅ Los campos de algodón contribuyen 165 millones de toneladas métricas de emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero cada año
• 
  Kristina Carter

  I appreciate the transparent approach Patagonia takes toward being a more responsible company. They lay out a clear problem AND solution in this book. Rather than making it feel like an impossible task, they make action accessible for companies as well as individuals.
• 
  Kalle Wescott

  I read /The Responsible Company: What We've Learned from Patagonia's First 40 Years/, by Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley:
  
  
  https://marketplace.regent-college.ed...
  
  Recommended.
• 
  Jonathan Mckay

  2.5 stars. Decent frameworks take. from other sources, but the hard part is how to achieve such frameworks and responsible company fails to deliver. Far too short for such a meaty subject, eleven though i have more respect for patagonia’s approach now.
• 
  Erwin Rossen

  It is nice to hear someone talk about their efforts to create a responsible company. Yet, this story couldn't capture me. It's all a bit predictable I guess, even if Patagonia is a world class example for a responsible company.
• 
  Alexandre Leclair

  Très bon livre qui explique bien comment Patagonia est devenue l'entreprise écologiquement et socialement responsable qu'elle est. J'ai vraiment aimé le fait qu'il y a une checklist à la fin du livre pour guider les entreprise qui veulent faire leurs part pour l'environement.
• 
  Renee

  Great advice on moving companies forward
• 
  Nancy

  Redondant et contenant beaucoup de recommandations que l'on retrouve ailleurs mieux expliquées. Tout de même inspirant.