Couple of days ago, together with my son (17), we have been on a full-day hike to climb Gerlach, which is with its 2655m not only the highest peak in the Tarta mountains and Slovakia but also the top mountain the whole Carpathian Mountain range. For non-professional climbers the trails are accessible only with a licensed mountain guide and require careful rope-assisted climbing in very exposed routes, partially secured by chains. While climbing up but particularly by going down a nice but long route along the lake I took my time to think about analogies and similarities between such a climbing adventure and everyday business decisions. And there is quite an impressive number of what one can learn.
Find a goal
The first step in any adventure is to find a target. Where do you want to go? What do you want to achieve? What do you dream of conquering? For us it was one of the few obvious goals. After living a couple of years in Switzerland we got in love with mountain hiking, but even before – mountain hikes have always been my passion that I successfully passed on to my son. What can be more challenging for two men than the highest peak in the area? Especially when there is no cable car and it requires more effort than just walking up the path. A good goal to go for it.
How does it then translate into business? Look around for challenges, find for you or your organization a target to reach. But be careful – the goal should be challenging but also achievable for you in your current condition and considering your expertise and resources. We did not go for K2 or even Mount Blanc and they are for sure out of our reach today. Spend some time and understand what is challenging and achievable for your organization or business. May it be winning in a given country, area or geography, opening a new store, launching new product line or winning new customer – be realistic with your expectations but also don’t make it too easy.
Learn, study, research
After we decided to go for Gerlach I have started to read about it. I know, reading seems old fashioned, there is also a lot of YouTube videos we have watched. I also had quite a lot of information from my many years hiking in the Tatra mountains. We knew how the hike would look like, that a guide is required as we can’t climb the peak by ourselves, we knew the best weather conditions and timing. We could decide where to spend the night (in Zakopane!) and what do we need to prepare.
Nothing different from your business life: after you have decided what your goal is you want to spend some time researching. Typically, you would check what competition is doing, who will be your customers or suppliers, are there any licenses or certificates needed for your business, will you need any partners or distributors? And if you want to launch a manufacturing line – will you have the people to operate it available? Will you have the right skillsets? What skills are required to do your job? There is a lot of sources to find the information, depending on the nature of the business, so there is no simple answer on where and how to do the research.
Plan ahead
Trips like ours you can’t decide ad hoc. The main reason is the certified guide you need for it. Of course, if you are one yourself things are getting easier. Originally, we wanted to go there in the previous year and with some friends, but pretty soon It appeared that the schedules of the guides are pretty booked, and one guide can only take up to two hikers. So eventually we decided to postpone our trip to this year. In June we booked the date – considering the weather conditions we had one full week. Luckily, we did not have to think about accommodation in Zakopane, which may be another issue in the high season, which is in August.
In our business lives we also have to plan in advance, not only do we need time to turn the ideas into life, but we have to consider people, technology, equipment or finance availability. Once you have envisioned your goal it is now time to outline the plan. Unlike our fairly easy trip for a couple of days to Slovakia, in real business life you normally have to build much more solid foundation, especially on the finance side. So, you evaluate your expected outcome and build the right path towards it – starting with budget and other resources you may need: patents, licenses, space, technology – you name it. Plan who and what you will need and what will be your way towards it. Depending on your business you may also look for software simulation, like we did visualize the path in PeakVisor App.
Build a team
This was a no-brainer for us – we go together with my son. We know ourselves pretty well and understand what we can expect from each other.
This is probably the most crucial part of the business plan: who is going to be on the team? The bigger the organization the harder the question. Spend time on this and select wisely: you may need to delegate people to this particular project from their normal job. What happens after the job is done? Set the team small and empower the people to take decisions by themselves, as they will be there day and night. Will you be part of the team or will you let somebody lead it? How will the team members fit together? I always like to think through an analogy of an orchestra or a music band – everybody has his or her role, but the skills and duties are different – the key is the harmony that should come as an output. It is the leader’s responsibility to build such an orchestra, which not only performs, but also communicates, works together and gives the security for its members to bring up any issue or problem to the table for discussion. It takes an extra effort to have this trust in the team.
Hire people
Yes, we lacked the expertise ourselves. We needed a guide. I have done some research on the internet and found several names in the Polish Mountain Guides Association. I have contacted a couple of them, checked for recommendations and selected one.
Isn’t it the same what we do in business? If we lack expertise or even simply manpower – we need to hire externally. Many of us have been through the process, which may be long and tiresome for both the organization but also the candidates. Set your expectations right, but also be flexible – there is little chance that you will find a perfect match out of nowhere, so focus also on attitude and enthusiasm of the people you interview.
Get resources
We have already been going for hiking trips for years, so normally we do not have to buy stuff, rather get things together. I have a fixed packing list for our adventures, so we review it and pack. But still, you have to check your gear, shoes or camera. Prepare it or get new – this time, besides of food and drinks I have also bought us a pair of rubber-covered gloves, like the ones we use in the garden, as it was expected that it may be cold and wet up there. The guide would provide us with harness, rope and helmets. Don’t forget about the insurance.
Usually, the key resource in business projects is money – do we have enough budget and funding, are we free to use it and in what timeline. Obviously, this is the tip of an iceberg: depending on your business and project type you will need machines, tools or processes, maybe some licenses, software or hardware, then physical space or a building, cars, computers, phones but also raw materials or subcomponents. You may need prototypes or mock-ups. This is a good moment to take care of it.
Be ready for the last-minute change
This will come, for sure. No matter how good you plan – there is always something that is unforeseen that may cross your expectations. This year summer was great in the mountains. Blue sky and sun. Perfect weather for our trip. Until we looked at the forecast the week before. Monday till Wednesday heavy rain and thunderstorms. We can’t go climbing in such conditions. We held a phone call with our guide and decided we would go to Zakopane on Monday (not over the weekend as planned before) and look for the weather window. Finally, the weather improved, and we could go on Thursday. This was however not all – on Sunday I felt sick. I got better on Monday, so we drove, on Tuesday we went for a short hike but in the evening, I felt bad again. Wednesday was the time for recovery and the truth – shall we cancel or go. Luckily my body was strong enough to fight the sickness and we decided to go.
Business can bring you a lot of surprises as well. Over my 30 years of career there have been maybe just a few projects that did not require some tweaking or changes before they took off. The customer wanted to delay or to accelerate, prototypes did not test as we anticipated, suppliers were late or the components were not according to specs, the requirements from customers have changed, the volumes never showed up or exceeded any careful planning, people changed, and the scope had to alter. Thousands of various reasons. Be prepared, be flexible, don’t calculate or time your project without any reasonable margin. Not everything can be planned though. While you should review different variants and situations, your plan considers options, there still may happen things that will surprise you. Take calculated risks.
Ascend
And here we are, the big day: at 3am we jump in the car, pick up our guide, go back again to pick up the forgotten wallet and drive to Slovakia. Still before dawn we are at the starting point at Sliezsky Dom and begin our ascend. First, we hike for 45 minutes and then the climbing part starts. Three of us, the guide leading and me closing the line. It’s still chilly in the morning light of the rising sun as we ascend the rocks. No special hurry, just moving up and up, keeping a good eye on your partners. After 3 hours we got to the peak. Goal achieved!
Your project starts: setting up new equipment, designing new products, groundbreaking of a new factory, signing a contract with a key supplier or a big customer. All what you have been planning and preparing for now gets into reality. Work carefully according to your plans, processes and routines, don’t lose the peak from your sight but also keep an eye on the exact rock you are grabbing right now. You don’t want to fail now.
Be ready to back off
This is a hard one. There are multiple stories and enough bodies in the mountains to support a painful truth: the closer the summit the harder it is to back-off. And sometimes it is a must – the weather may change, you may get injured or sick, maybe somebody will need your help – be prepared for unforeseen happening and be ready to abort even 20 meters below summit.
I know how it sounds in business life, but yes, I lived through projects that have been called off to avoid greater damage when conditions changed. But I have also witnessed projects that have been continued even if everybody knew that they lead to failure even if achieved. As a leader it is your responsibility to build an environment when even the last moment call-off is possible. Think about the Challenger space shuttle disaster – there have been warnings from the engineers of the risk of the o-ring failing in the low temperatures, but nobody was willing to abort the mission. In a healthy organization you need to have the trust within the team to bring the message to the decision-making levels and not to kill the messenger.
Achieve your goal
And here we are standing on the top of the Tatra, looking at the cross at the peak and viewing the valleys, clouds and villages below us, the path that we just climbed and sharing the joy with other people there. Nobody will take from you the feeling of fulfillment while achieving what you have been longing for.
Celebrate. Celebrate the success with your team, share the word about it within the organization. Find a way to acknowledge everybody who contributed, use tools available in your company – newsletters, meetings, webcasts, diplomas but don’t forget about bonuses or pay rises. You are at the top and your team has delivered what was expected. Or maybe better than expected and this is the moment when you can build strong bonds within the team and trust. Promote your team members and not yourself.
Come back safely home
What is this one? Haven’t we just achieved our goal? Is there anything else to talk about? Yes – reaching the summit was only part of the goal – coming safely home is the real closing of the adventure. And it may be, in many cases, even harder than getting to the top. If you have not yet – read the book of Joe Simpson “Touching the void”. It is all about coming home. All your achievements vanish if you won’t be able to bring them home, to people who you love and care for. And people who care for you.
How does it translate into business? Think, for example, of after-sales service and keeping the customer happy after he has already bought from you. You want him to return or promote your services. Think about the product you have just designed or a software you have just released – they will for sure require future design or maintenance activities. And your new factory or new manufacturing line – setting them up is just a starting point of a new value that you have created with your team and are still responsible for how it grows.
Eventually we have safely arrived home. With the pictures in cameras, memories and the joy in our hearts. Going back to work or school equipped with new ideas, ready for new challenges, like in the business world: find a new goal, plan towards it, get the right people and all resources you need and off – go and get there but keep in mind that you eventually want to come safely home with all your good and bad memories. For this you will also need flexibility across all the process, ability to duck, detour, deviate or even go back at any time and most important – a good team that will support you, trust in you and deliver in good and bad times.
