Reflections of Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman

Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, has lived an unconventional life compared to most people. With that, his philosophy of business is one unlike many. Chouinard never wanted to be a businessman, yet, today would be considered a successful entrepreneur, whether he likes it or not. Now success was never Chouinard’s goal, but it was to make high-quality products, and along the way never considered his pocketbook, but considered people, the planet, and the future of how business should be operated. In his book Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman Chouinard shares the history of Patagonia and the philosophy in which the company operates. Personally, this book is truly inspiring as someone who has a deep desire to innovate. With the reflection I want to share what I felt were some of Chouinard’s most impactful themes in his memoir. 

Quality

A common theme that Chouinard constantly preaches throughout his business philosophy is quality. Starting in the climbing equipment industry, Chouinard had no other choice but to create products with high quality because if they were not, it could cost him his own life and possibly others; so from the beginning, it was quality, quality, quality. He even shares this when they began to step into the clothing industry, “Perhaps we didn’t know much about sewing but we did know how to make things functional, tough, and simple.” p35. I find this compelling because in many ways our culture screams “DO IT NOW” yet quality tells us quite the opposite. Quality takes time and effort. A prime example of this is when Chouinard talks about writing his book on ice climbing: 

In 1978 I wrote a book on ice-climbing techniques that had taken me twelve years to write because I had to travel, climb, and study snow and ice climbing in every major country that practiced alpine climbing, trying to come up with a unified technique for my book Climbing Ice. p41

It took this man twelve years to write this book! 12 YEARS! In today’s culture, we are all trying to blow up as quickly as possible, but we are reminded that nothing good happens or even lasts when quality is set aside. I myself have fallen victim to this mentality, whether that be frantically posting on TikTok or reaching out to potential clients that are not even close to my niche. I think this can be a reminder to all that this slow process is normal, frustrating, yes, but normal. “We have to get away from thinking that all growth is good. There’s a big difference between growing fatter and growing stronger.” p231 

Here are some other reflections that Chouinard mentions about quality that I thought were worth mentioning: 

“Recently a worldwide survey of customers found that only 14 percent of Americans were likely to contact a company about a problem. In Europe, other studies show that one-half to one-third of customers who have had problems will never purchase from that company again.” p152

“The goal of climbing big, dangerous mountains should be to attain some sort of spiritual and personal growth, but this won’t happen if you compromise away the entire process.” p173 

Innovation

“It may take thirty years to come up with an invention..innovation can be achieved much more quickly because you already start with an existing product, idea, or design.” p 87. Now when looking at Patagonia, a prime example of innovation within their company is their approach to the wetsuit. The origins of the wetsuit and many wetsuits you find in a surf shop today are typically made with neoprene. Neoprene is a substance made of limestone and petroleum and is known to be one of the most harmful clothing materials in the environment, due to its non-biodegradable tendencies. Now with innovation in mind, Patagonia partnered with Yulex to create a wetsuit that was made of biodegradable plant-based materials that would hold the same results as neoprene. The thing with Chouinard’s philosophy of innovation is the constant will to make things better. He shares this in his book which I feel speaks to the root of this innovation mindset: 

The problem is a failure of the imagination. Uncurious people do not lead examined lives; they cannot see causes that lie deeper than the surface….Uncovering problems- and ultimately finding solutions-requires not only allowing facts to influence your faith but also requires lots of questions, hard questions. I’ve found that asking one or two questions isn’t sufficient; in fact, that often leads to a false sense of security.  p188 

The biggest takeaway from this is reflection. Taking the time to think about the world we live in and the ways we can make it better. May I also reiterate that this takes time, reflecting and finding a solution may be a slow process, but I am reminded once again that nothing good happens overnight. Furthermore, this reflection may tell us something about ourselves that could be a convicting reality check.

Leadership 

Being someone who is a successful entrepreneur of a large corporation, Chouinard shines some light on what great leadership looks like. This is what he says: 

The best leadership is by example. Malinda’s and my office space and the CEO’s is open to anyone and we always try to be available. We don’t have special parking spaces for ourselves or for any upper management; the best spaces are reserved for fuel-efficient cars, no matter who owns them. Malinda and I pay for our own lunches in our cafeteria; otherwise, it would send a message to the employees that it’s okay to take from the company.  p168 

The biggest takeaway from this is humility. As a leader, never consider yourself better than anyone below you, I think this comes with the understanding that status does not take away the fact that we are all working or working for another human being. In addition, being a leader that is approachable and willing to accept the voice of someone who may have something important to share or give a perspective that wouldn’t be shared otherwise. Chouinard also makes another compelling point about leaders that I found quite powerful: 

A study was done of the most successful CEOs in America…found one factor in common: They enjoy working with their hands…when there’s a problem of any kind, these people have the confidence to think through and solve it themselves instead of looking for a repairman or consultant. The longevity of a CEO’s career is directly proportional to his or her problem-solving skills and ability to adapt and grow with the job. p172 

I find this so compelling because the little things in our lives can have a great impact. What we do in the small moments in our day can have a great impact on our leadership and the ways we interact with others. So I think some reflections from this are, “How do we spend the small moments of the day? What are the thoughts that creep into our heads that we let define us? Do we have tasks that are increasing our capacity to lead well in the midst of uncertainty and trial?” A final point that should be made on leadership is not from Chouinard but from Kris McDivitt, one of Patagonia's early general managers, she says, “ …if you just admit that you don’t know something-they will fall all over themselves trying to help.” p38. People are always willing to help but once again the humility aspect of knowing that nothing good happens from doing it alone. More importantly, we can often avoid the mistakes that others have already endured when we ask for help. 

Final Thoughts

I highly recommend this book to anyone from the surf and outdoor lover, to the young entrepreneur, to the person deciding at the grocery store to spend the extra dollar on organic fruit (Chouinard would probably say do it). To wrap this up,  I wanted to share a few more nuggets from the memoir that I deemed worthy of reflecting on: 

“The original definition of consumer is, ‘one who destroys or expends by use; devours, spends wastefully.” p227 

“Live more simply, it won’t be an impoverished life but one richer in all the ways that really matter.” p231 

The last thing I want to do with this reflection is shine some light on companies that I feel are living in this unconventional way of business. Now I do want to note that you may go to these websites and say, “Wow these are expensive” but I want you to think about and look at the process of making these clothes (organic cotton, fair trade, farmer-owned), the quality (lifetime guarantee, free repairs, made to last), and also a reminder that these brands are creating so that you buy less because the reality is that many of the clothes in our closets are not necessarily essentials to thriving.

• Patagonia

• Outerknown 

• Imperfects 

• Nudie Jeans 

• Mate the Label 

• Birdwell

• Nomadix

• Pachamama Coffee

Buy the book here: Let My People Go Surfing