by Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.
Last week I read Yvon Chouinard’s book “Let My People Go Surfing”. Yvon is the founder of Patagonia clothing company and I think I may be the last business person on the planet to have read his book. In case you have not read it, it is the story of his founding of the company and the many path-breaking business principles that he and his associates founded, such as on-site day-care and flex time, etc. etc. The book also outlines how he, his company and his associates became passionate and active supporters of environmental causes.
The book is a fascinating case study in how to run a company. So many of the business practices that Yvon and his partner’s started are now common-place benchmarks – but they were anything but when he first introduced them.
When the company first started making mountain climbing gear, they warned their customers not to expect fast service during mountain climbing season as they (the founders) would be out mountain climbing rather than filling customer orders. This passion for activity and passion in their chosen field, rather than following best business practices turned out quite well for them. The title of the book of course refers to the fact that employees are encouraged to go surfing when the conditions are good, rather than wait until the 5 o’clock whistle has blown.
Yvon is obviously a very smart but also a very charismatic person. (I assume he is charismatic from the way that the book was written.) His company is a blue-print for many others that have tried to follow in his footpaths. His book is also a popular read amongst B-school types.
This brings up an interesting question. Is Patagonia and Yvon successful because of his passion for mountain climbing and surfing, or is he successful because of his passion, or is he successful because of his education (he basically has no formal post-secondary education)? Can risk managers be successful in the same way?
Note: This is a re-posting of a blog that previously appeared on November 15, 2010
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