Frictionless Change: Patagonia

I reflect on what I call "frictionless" Change. Read how Patagonia has achieved Change nirvana.

Frictionless is a theoretical — asymptotic, really — condition in which a company Changes as a whole when required, without staff experiencing cognitive dissonance, cognitive overload (which can easily become Burnout), or self-interest.

I use the word "asymptotic" as it connotes a state of perfection ultimately unmaintainable — but it doesn't hurt trying to achieve the goal anyway.

The outdoor company Patagonia seems to me to be the closest to having achieved that state. I believe it is because they have aligned their values for so long that Change is in every individual, group, and entity up and down and across the company.

Backstory

Climber and outdoorsman Yvon Chouinard founded the outdoor apparel company in 1973. It is headquartered in Ventura, California.

Patagonia has cultivated a unique and mild corporate temperament that prioritizes flexibility, work-life balance, and employee well-being?

Based on internet research, this is a thumbnail sketch of its corporate temperament:

1. Flexibility and Work-Life Balance
2. Family-Friendly Environment
3. Flexible Schedules
4. Hiring Philosophy

Patagonia’s temperament is built on trust, respect, and open communication. They actively encourage employee feedback, involvement in decision-making, and a sense of ownership. It’s no wonder that 91 percent of Patagonia employees consider it a great place to work.?

Value What You Have

On the eve of its 50th anniversary, Patagonia updated its core values to reflect the company it aspires to be:

Quality: Building the best product, providing excellent service, and constantly improving everything they do. Their ideal product is useful, versatile, long-lasting, repairable, and recyclable.

Integrity: Openly examining practices, learning from mistakes, and meeting commitments. Integrity means actions align with words, and all work contributes to a functional whole [italics are mine].

Environmentalism: Protecting the home planet by reducing impact, sharing solutions, and embracing regenerative practices. Patagonia partners with grassroots organizations to restore lands, air, and waters.

Justice: Striving for equity, antiracism, and well-being. They acknowledge painful histories, confront biases, and reorder economic priorities to value thriving communities.

Not Bound by Convention: Doing things their way, reflecting the spirit of a business started by climbers and surfers who embraced minimalist styles in their lives and sports.

A Narrative for Change

In the context of the REAP|Change Framework, Patagonia's Narrative value driver plays a significant role in achieving frictionless change within the organization.?

The Narrative value driver leverages corporate mythology and origin stories to create a compelling case for change, tapping into the organization's identity, values, and aspirations to build an emotional connection and shared purpose around the transformation.

Patagonia's Narrative is deeply rooted in its core values of quality, integrity, environmentalism, justice, and unconventional thinking.?

These values, which have been an integral part of the company's identity since its founding, serve as a powerful motivator for change initiatives that align with this narrative.

When Change efforts are framed within the context of Patagonia's mission to protect the environment, promote social justice, and deliver high-quality, sustainable products, employees are more likely to perceive the Change as meaningful and purposeful.?

This alignment reduces cognitive dissonance and uneasiness, as employees can see how the change initiatives contribute to the company's higher purpose and values.

Moreover, Patagonia's Narrative emphasizes the importance of flexibility, adaptability, and embracing unconventional approaches.?

This aspect of the Narrative can help frame change as a natural and necessary part of the company's evolution, rather than a disruptive force.?

The Narrative value driver can foster a more positive and receptive attitude towards transformation in companies by positioning change as an opportunity to innovate and find new ways to live out the company's values.

Toward Frictionless Change

In terms of the REAP|Change Framework, a strong and coherent Narrative can support various aspects of the change process:

1. Readiness: The Narrative helps create a sense of urgency and motivation for change by connecting it to the company's core purpose and values.

2. Engagement: The Narrative provides a framework for communicating the rationale and benefits of change in a way that resonates with employees' intrinsic motivations and sense of purpose.

3. Alignment: By grounding change initiatives in the company's shared values and mission, the Narrative helps align employees, leaders, and stakeholders around a common goal.

4. Practice: The Narrative can guide the development of new behaviors, processes, and practices that embody the company's values and support the desired change outcomes.

Patagonia's strong Narrative value driver, rooted in its core values and mission, can significantly contribute to achieving frictionless change within the REAP|Change Framework.?

When companies cultivate a? shared sense of purpose, they reduce cognitive dissonance among staff. It's easy, then, to frame Change as a natural extension of the company's identity.?

The Narrative can foster readiness, engagement, alignment, and practice throughout the Change process and beyond.

Change, then, doesn't feel like Change.

Direct mail me in LinkedIn with your workplace change management questions, or to discuss project opportunities.

I internalized Change growing up in a military family before I was 17 years old: 5 global locations and 10 schools before running off to Cornell University to study Physics.

Management consulting after graduation was a great way to help others through transitions and transformations: technological, cross-border, cross-cultural, across markets.

I was trained in and applied four organizational change management methodologies through the global consulting firms for which I worked, applied Oracle's Change toolkit, and gained certification in ADKAR.

It's my mission to facilitate Transformation, Empowerment, Discovery, and Synthesis for individuals and organizations to help them align and realize what they value.

I've successfully led Change programs spanning continents and cultures, from mom-and-pop businesses to Fortune 500 corporations.

Change initiatives ranging from global ERP implementations to back-office accounting software rollouts have honed my technology adoption expertise.

I created The REAP|Change? Framework and Knowledge Base for People-centered Business Transformation to bring the practice of Change Management into the Age of AI.

My latest books are about AI: one for Business Leaders, and another about the ethics involved in using GenAI in the classroom.