Lessons for Business from Patagonia

Check out the new biography of Yvon Chouinard

David Gelles’s biography of Yvon Chouinard is hot off the presses. We enjoyed reading it, learned a lot, and recommend that you read it too. It’s an entertaining and inspiring report on Yvon’s singular life. It’s also a good examination of the challenges and opportunities associated with corporate-led environmental action.

One theme was particularly salient given the issues we write about at The Instigator: How much power do CEOs really have to take bold corporate action for nature’s benefit?

We’ve argued here that there is a lot business can do—and we should all push hard for them to do it—but it’s difficult to get beyond initiatives that directly benefit shareholders.