Great Entrepreneurs Leverage Entropy to Help Their Companies Succeed

The founders of Patagonia, SpaceX, Apple, and Southwest Airlines all use principles related to entropy in their daily lives.

Have you ever wondered why Steve jobs always wore the same black turtle neck? Or why the founder of southwest airlines, Herb Kelleher, eats the same cheese and crackers every single morning? The reason these successful entrepreneurs simplify their everyday decisions could be due to the same reason a cloud of smoke swirls and dissipates in the air or why the universe is expanding — It could be because of entropy.

We don’t need to get into physics jargon to understand entropy. Entropy stems from a natural law dictating that disorder always increases; the only way to stop it is by putting in work. Think about your desk after a busy week. It’s probably a cluttered mess of coffee cups and rouge papers. This is the disorder of entropy. Your space only stays ordered if you work to keep it that way.

So what does entropy have to do with Steve Job’s wardrobe or Herb Kelleher’s diet? Let’s revisit the desk analogy. Instead of getting a new disposable cup with every refill, you made it a point to reuse a single coffee mug. You also keep your work materials condensed in a single binder. Now, your space stays easily organized with only one mug and one binder. By reducing the number of objects, you can slow disorder without extra work. This is what Job’s and Kelleher are onto. More order with less work.

Job’s and Kelleher aren’t the only entrepreneurs who leverage entropy: Simplicity was Elon Musk’s guiding philosophy leading up to his first success with Zip2 (His internet mapping project before PayPal). In the Zip2 days, Musk shared a two-bedroom apartment with his brother. They had no furniture for the apartment; just a couple of bare mattresses on the floor.

Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, ascribes to a similar philosophy. After getting married, Yvon and his wife lived out of a van parked near their workshop. Their only possessions were what could fit in this van. Yvon’s sacrifice and focus was essential to the growth of Patagonia, which doubled in size during this time.