According to a recent article in the German Business Magazine ’Wirtschaftswoche’ Mountaineers become popular in sharing their expertise with managers in industry and commerce.
Mountaineers leading a team to the peek of e.g. Mount Everest (Highest Mountain in the world) often face similar problems as managers such as leading and motivating their teams, dealing with external forces beyond their control without losing sight of the goal, coping with setbacks and sometimes the need to start again from scratch, managing limited resources, or detailed planning.
Here are some little anecdotes and lessons.
An expedition to the Mount Everest nearly failed, as the team did not have a functioning lighter, which was required to light a fire and melt snow for drinking water. Every team member overlooked this simple routine issue to check if his or her lighter works and was ready to rely on other team members to do so. (The end of this story is – finally a team member got his lighter functioning otherwise the team could not have continued).
THE LESSON – Meticulous planning and checking may not be a very glamorous job, however, often it makes the difference between success and failure.
Another team leader asked his team to sleep in the base camp in order to save expenses whilst he was staying in a hotel. The team got suspicious about the team leader and his intentions. Even a rumor developed that the team leader wants to ‘disappear’ with the sponsoring money. The team fell apart before even starting the climb.
THE LESSON – Never leave an inexperienced team on its own in a stress situation.
Even an exciting adventure like mountain climbing means a lot of ‘donkey work’. In a typical Mount Everest expedition, the climbers have to spend weeks carrying equipment to the base camp. This is hard work but not very exciting and the euphoria is quickly replaced by discontent.
THE LESSON – For projects, which take a very long time, excitement can cool down quickly. How can this be overcome? Sometimes the team should stop and look back and assess what has been achieved already. Alternatively, set intermediate goals (milestone) and have a little celebration once they are achieved.
For Mount Everest expeditions more mountaineers die descending from the peak vs. ascending trying to reach the peak. It appears that after having reached the peak mountaineers consider the goal as being achieved and become a bit careless.
THE LESSON – Don’t think that you are invincible because of current success. Plan for the next step. (Or plan for survival also in leaner times)
Mountaineers leading a team to the peek of e.g. Mount Everest (Highest Mountain in the world) often face similar problems as managers such as leading and motivating their teams, dealing with external forces beyond their control without losing sight of the goal, coping with setbacks and sometimes the need to start again from scratch, managing limited resources, or detailed planning.
Here are some little anecdotes and lessons.
An expedition to the Mount Everest nearly failed, as the team did not have a functioning lighter, which was required to light a fire and melt snow for drinking water. Every team member overlooked this simple routine issue to check if his or her lighter works and was ready to rely on other team members to do so. (The end of this story is – finally a team member got his lighter functioning otherwise the team could not have continued).
THE LESSON – Meticulous planning and checking may not be a very glamorous job, however, often it makes the difference between success and failure.
Another team leader asked his team to sleep in the base camp in order to save expenses whilst he was staying in a hotel. The team got suspicious about the team leader and his intentions. Even a rumor developed that the team leader wants to ‘disappear’ with the sponsoring money. The team fell apart before even starting the climb.
THE LESSON – Never leave an inexperienced team on its own in a stress situation.
Even an exciting adventure like mountain climbing means a lot of ‘donkey work’. In a typical Mount Everest expedition, the climbers have to spend weeks carrying equipment to the base camp. This is hard work but not very exciting and the euphoria is quickly replaced by discontent.
THE LESSON – For projects, which take a very long time, excitement can cool down quickly. How can this be overcome? Sometimes the team should stop and look back and assess what has been achieved already. Alternatively, set intermediate goals (milestone) and have a little celebration once they are achieved.
For Mount Everest expeditions more mountaineers die descending from the peak vs. ascending trying to reach the peak. It appears that after having reached the peak mountaineers consider the goal as being achieved and become a bit careless.
THE LESSON – Don’t think that you are invincible because of current success. Plan for the next step. (Or plan for survival also in leaner times)
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