QuoteProject
At Patagonia, making a profit is not the goal because the Zen master would say profits happen 'when you do everything else right'.
Yvon Chouinard
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The focus should be on doing things correctly, and profits will naturally follow.

This quote by Yvon Chouinard highlights the philosophy of prioritizing values and ethical practices over the mere pursuit of profit. It suggests that when an organization or individual consistently strives for excellence and acts responsibly, financial success will come as a byproduct rather than the primary objective.

Themes

ProfitValuesSuccessEthicsBusiness

In practice

Example use cases

In a business seminar discussing sustainable practices.

More from Yvon Chouinard

There's no difference between a pessimist who says, "Oh it's hopeless, so don't bother doing anything." and an optimist who says, "Don't bother doing anything, it's going to turn out fine anyways. Either way, nothing happens."
Yvon ChouinardRead
I think risk is important. I don't care if it's a great financial risk or a physical risk. You only get out of something what you put into it and the fact that you are willing to risk something means that you are going to get a lot more out of it.
Yvon ChouinardRead
The solution may be for a lot of the world's problems is to turn around and take a forward step. You can't just keep trying to make a flawed system work.
Yvon ChouinardRead
We're a part of nature. As we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. It's a selfish thing to want to protect nature.
Yvon ChouinardRead
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.
Yvon ChouinardRead
The future of Yosemite climbing lies not in Yosemite, but in using the new techniques in the great granite ranges of the world.
Yvon ChouinardRead

Similar quotes

When you're thinking about your next product or current product and wondering how to make it different so you don't have competition, understand the job the customer needs to get done.
Clayton M. ChristensenRead
Consistent alignment of capabilities and internal processes with the customer value proposition is the core of any strategy execution.
Robert S. KaplanRead
As an entrepreneur, I've learned how crucial it is to be able to call a spade a spade and avoid falling in love with a particular strategy or product. Instead, you need to let the customer tell you what she needs - and to change her as she changes.
Sallie KrawcheckRead
It is very difficult to get people to focus on the most important things when you're in boom times.
Jeff BezosRead
The best start-ups might be considered slightly less extreme kinds of cults. The biggest difference is that cults tend to be fanatically wrong about something important. People at a successful start-up are fanatically right about something those outside it have missed.
Peter ThielRead
The NBA is never just a business. It's always business. It's always personal. All good businesses are personal. The best businesses are very personal.
Mark CubanRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.