Patagonia makes high-end outdoor equipment. You might also say they compete in the fashion industry. You might even say they're a bunch of nutty environmentalist hippies. I say that they are business geniuses.
Yvon Chouinard's book "Let My People go Surfing" has a lot of fantastic business inspiration. (He’s the founder of Patagonia.)
For instance: "Each product Patagonia adds to the line (without dropping an old one) requires the hiring of two and one-half new people." Does your employer have any idea how many people your company requires to support one new product?
I've worked with some incredibly talented folks, and none of them have ever discussed the number of new folks we'll need to hire to support a new product. I worked with one large company that didn't even tell us about a new product until they dropped it off on our desk.
How does your employer compare to Patagonia? How aware of your industrial processes are your colleagues? What metrics and facts inform your business decisions?
John