Very few companies do this well…

Their best-selling product was poisoning communities.

They got the environmental audit back and it was worse than expected. Pesticides. Dead soil. Contaminated water.

With a mission to save our home planet, they were doing everything but.

“We’re done” said Yvonne, the founder of Patagonia. “From now on we’re only using organic cotton.”

But not everyone was on board. That one decision brought much higher costs, lower margins and a whole lot of risk.

Morale dipped. Some employees left. Others questioned leadership.

Still, Yvonne held the line. He refused to let short-term profit override their mission. But here’s the ironic part…

“Every time we’ve elected to do the right thing, it’s turned out to be more profitable.”

– Yvon Chouinard

The decision looked expensive and risky at the time, but it paid off handsomely.

Patagonia rebuilt its entire supply chain and pulled far ahead of its competitors. When sustainability trends took off, so did Patagonia. Now they run every product decision through their mission, ensuring their product line ‘causes no unnecessary harm’…

When I first heard this story it hit me hard.

Mission wasn’t just an inspiring statement, it was a strategic weapon if used correctly.

After that, I got obsessed with one question: How can our company operationalize our mission?

To me that meant turning our mission statement into day-to-day decisions, systems and behaviors… so the company would never lose its way.

And today, I’m sharing exactly how we did this…
(click to enlarge & download)

I hope you find the Patagonia story and this mission playbook helpful! If you do, please consider forwarding this email to a friend who might also find it valuable. 🙏

Till next time,

Scot