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
At Patagonia, making a profit is not the goal because the Zen master would say profits happen 'when you do everything else right'.
Interpretation
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.
In practice
In a business seminar discussing sustainable practices.
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."
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.
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.
We're a part of nature. As we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. It's a selfish thing to want to protect nature.
Evil doesnβt 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.
The future of Yosemite climbing lies not in Yosemite, but in using the new techniques in the great granite ranges of the world.
If you want to invest in us, we believe customer number one, employee number two, shareholder number three. If they don't want to buy that, that's fine. If they regret, they can sell us.
China is very entrepreneurial but has no rule of law. Europe has rule of law but isn't entrepreneurial. Combine rule of law, entrepreneurialism and a generally pro-business policy, and you have Apple.
Few relationships are as critical to the business enterprise as the relationship to the government. Managers have responsibility for this relationship as part of their responsibility to the enterprise itself. It is an area of social impact of the business. To a large extent the relationship to government results from what businesses do or fail to do.
If you have a business model that relies on customers being misinformed, you better start working on changing your business model.
A good idea for a new business tends not to occur in isolation, and often the window of opportunity is very small. So speed is of the essence.
In a period of economic downturn, the overwhelming instinct is to pare back, cut costs, and lay off. If you do that, do so with your strategy in mind. The worst mistake is to cut across the board. Instead, reconnect and recommit to a clear strategy that will distinguish yourself from others.
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