You have to remember this was the '60s, when climbing was dangerous and sex was safe.

Profit is what happens when you do everything else right.

I purposely try to hire people who are really self-motivated and good at what they do, and then I just leave them alone.

So all of these companies that are going for the big growth, if it continues for any length of time, will outlast their resources and outlast their customers and go belly-up. And that's why these huge companies have massive layoffs all the time.

While our managers debated what steps to take to address the sales and cash-flow crisis, I began to lead week-long employee seminars in what we called Philosophies. We'd take a busload at a time to places like Yosemite or the Marin Headlands above San Francisco, camp out, and gather under the trees to talk. The goal was to teach every employee in the company our business and environmental ethics and values.

But I'm really trying to run this company like it is going to be here a hundred years from now. That's what's important.

The whole purpose of an adventure is to gain some spiritual or emotional insight. When you compromise the process, you compromise the gain.