Clever Geek Handbook
13 May 2025

eXtreme Project Management

Recommendation

The choice between “traditional project management” (TPM) and “eXtreme project management” isn’t an option that pertains to every endeavor – only to projects with complexities that would swamp TPM. Consultant Doug DeCarlo explains why eXtreme’s tools are better for programs that require major innovation, fast completion and strong financial returns. Extreme project management uses a “quantum,” diffuse mind-set – rather than TPM’s linear thinking – and DeCarlo carefully explains the differences. Alas, his faith in the positive impact of some amount of chaos extends a bit to his book, which calls upon every conceivable tactic, from team training to prayer in a pinch. He explains the importance of the project manager’s mental framework and advises focusing on team members’ emotions as well as their tasks. DeCarlo reviews eXtreme methods, vision, planning, evaluation, tools and other concerns. His book also details helpful scenarios. BooksInShort believes that if project managers run into difficulties with this complete manual, their concerns will stem more from eXtreme’s very specific point of view about managing projects than from any technical issues with DeCarlo’s thorough text.

Take-Aways

  • If your project requires speed and innovation, “eXtreme project management” is a better fit than “traditional project management.”
  • You must manage yourself before you can manage other people or big projects.
  • Collaboration and a healthy emotional environment are both crucial factors in eXtreme project management.
  • Extreme projects require a new “quantum mind-set,” not traditional linear thinking.
  • Courageous managers do the right thing even if they are fearful.
  • Create your team carefully by matching the right talents to the necessary tasks.
  • Work closely with your sponsor to capture your project’s vision.
  • Your project will run more smoothly if you enlist your stakeholders’ support.
  • While planning is important, eXtreme projects focus more on “learning by doing.”
  • Establish constant, instantaneous communication so your team members are always flexible and responsive.

Summary

Getting Your Mind Right

Modern business has to work in a fluid environment. “Traditional project management” (TPM) methods are too stable and slow; they strive to be too linear and neat in a messy world. While “eXtreme project management” is chaotic, it allows you to work quickly and to develop just-in-time implementation, rather than writing plans that turn out to be more fiction than reality. If TPM is “Newtonian mechanics,” eXtreme is “quantum mechanics.” Using this approach requires changing your mind-set. With TPM, you build a long, step-by-step sequence of activities. With eXtreme, you accept uncertainty; you acknowledge that things will go wrong and that some matters are simply outside your reach. The traditional method tells you that security comes from tight control, but the eXtreme method allows you to find security by relaxing your grip to the right degree. Extreme project management is more like the approach of an improvisational jazz musician than that of a classicist working from a fixed musical score.

A Model for eXtreme Success: Manage Creativity Instead of Tasks

Using eXtreme project management helps you thrive amid the real world of change and unpredictability. Rather than focusing on tasks, concentrate on the people who perform them. Provide room for participants to use their talents; help them stay emotionally healthy and energized. An eXtreme endeavor goes beyond the typical definition of a project as an effort to produce a product or service. Instead, it is “a process throughout which thoughts and emotions take form.” Your job is to facilitate your team members’ stream of creativity and their feelings about the project and each other. This may not be linear. You could run through some or all of the eXtreme cycles – being visionary, speculating about outcomes, being innovative, disseminating information, and re-evaluating – a few times. Embrace change as a positive factor. Realize that people want to perform well and do meaningful work. Give your team members connection and ownership of their work. Never let a plan become too complex. Keep it as simple as you can.

“Traditional project management is about managing the known, but eXtreme project management is about managing the unknown. You don’t manage the unknown the same way you manage the known.”

To exude the right energy as a team leader, adopt a positive attitude and set healthy priorities. Keep your team interactions constructive and uplifting. Flow with reality rather than trying to force events into a straight line. If you bash your soft head against the hard granite wall of real life, you’ll make yourself and your team miserable, and you’ll sap your program’s energy. To achieve “self-mastery,” you need to “see yourself, be yourself and assert yourself.” Understand how your purpose connects to your project so you develop a compelling vision. Gain authentic power by staying aligned despite any chaos around you. Show respect for others so you can communicate effectively and advocate genuinely for your endeavor. Tap into your inner power physically, mentally and spiritually. In a pinch, “ask for a miracle,” and recite the “Serenity Prayer” to achieve a steady frame of mind: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

The Role of an eXtreme Project Manager

View your project like a gardener views a field of flowers. Position your crop to get sunlight, select plants, fertilize the soil, provide water and tend the growing blooms. But remember that you don’t make the plants grow; you enable their growth. Do the same for your people. Provide the right environment and conditions for them to flourish, but don’t make them puppets.

“The new definition of...project management shifts the emphasis [to] creating an environment that fosters good thinking, positive energy, fluid communications and robust collaboration.”

An eXtreme project manager must get the politics and policies right. Recruit the strongest possible sponsor. Identify critical stakeholders; make sure your goals are aligned. Base your leadership on your ability to persuade, not on assumed authority. Establish a solid infrastructure to help your team make good decisions. Work toward the results your clients expect so they will value what your team does. Facilitate positive solutions to interpersonal problems. Be a coach, not a boss. To build trust in your leadership, inculcate “process values,” including transparency, cooperation with customers and heightened knowledge drawn from doing the hardest steps first, even if you fail. Build “business values,” including purposefulness, goal orientation and quick delivery of a worthwhile payoff. Also develop the “four people values”:

  1. “People first” – Foster success by identifying what isn’t working and taking action.
  2. “Honest communication” – Show people that they can be perfectly frank, without any repercussions.
  3. “Quality of life” – Encourage balancing work with leading healthy personal lives.
  4. “Courage” – You will feel afraid at some point; do what is right anyway.
“Extreme projects are about planning, deplanning and replanning.”

An eXtreme team consists of people with necessary, complementary skills. Team members must work together constructively so they can accomplish a total goal that is more than the sum of each member’s skills. You must have a team; a group cannot accomplish an eXtreme scheme. Groups are amalgams of people working under the same manager but without the mutual accountability of a team. While group members may be widely distributed geographically, eXtreme team members must be in the same place so they can work together quickly and closely. Distance would break their creative connection. Assure your team members that you will stand behind them if they make mistakes. As you earn the right to lead, their productivity will increase. Focus on their success instead of emphasizing avoiding mistakes.

“Overplanning the project will not only waste valuable time; the resultant detailed plan will be a group exercise in fiction writing.”

As a project manager, you must know what effort and materials each task requires. Your sponsor should know which people onboard need what resources and why. You and your sponsor must plan how to get the resources and personnel for each task, whether each step is worth doing, and whether it remains worthwhile over time. Don’t join a project if it is set up to fail, and never get so attached to an undertaking that you press on even when you see that it’s a nightmare.

Your Sponsor’s Vision

An eXtreme project must have solid, internal support from an executive sponsor. Since many sponsors have only a vague idea of what they want, your first job is to help your sponsor codify an action-oriented vision. Determine the “objective, deliverable, outcome” and “benefit.” The objective states the business goals, the deliverable embodies what you hope to create or accomplish, the outcome lists the planned results, and the benefit is the reason the project’s impact is compelling. Be sure you know why the goal matters, the intended quality of the deliverable, the surrounding business climate, the fiscal impact, the timing and schedule, the required resources, and the repercussions if the firm doesn’t do this assignment. Learn who your stakeholders are and why this endeavor is significant to them. Once your sponsor understands your project and its risks, work together to give others a clear picture. Use your vision to lessen any damage that rumors or criticism create and to convince every stakeholder to help.

“When the stakes are high and failure is not an option, when speed, innovation, and profitability count, eXtreme project management excels and traditional project management bogs down.”

A stakeholder can affect whether your project succeeds or fails, so if you don’t manage stakeholders’ expectations, you risk driving your plan off a cliff. Neglected stakeholders can sabotage your efforts. Ask your sponsor to help you get each person on board. Stakeholders must understand how your endeavor will directly benefit them and help the business. If you have many stakeholders, bringing them together may be counterproductive because their interests may not align. Investigate natural groupings, but be aware that each stakeholder is an individual.

Benefits, Feasibility and Plans

Create a “benefits map” to clarify your thinking. Use concise, compelling language. Conduct scenario planning, not to predict the future but to make sure you identify potential complications so you can plan responses to a range of circumstances. Extreme projects with short time frames require “time boxes” to keep things moving. Each box encompasses specific work. A time box starts when the team decides how to accomplish the work, and it ends when the work is done and the team recommends the next steps to take. Be sure the subsequent steps are feasible. Balance the effort you spend planning with its true payoff. Don’t plan your project from beginning to end since it will almost certainly change along the way. Planning should:

  • Ensure that your “collective vision” is up-to-date.
  • Assess the risks and unknowns by creating a “project uncertainty profile.”
  • Design the project to follow a deliverables continuum.
  • Determine how large each deliverable will be and what work it will take.
  • Map out how you will create and furnish each deliverable.
  • Calculate the financial requirements and return on investment.
  • Ensure that the program’s “prospectus” is current and reliable.
  • Identify and arrange to meet technical and support needs.
  • Evaluate your team. Find and recruit people with the right skills.
  • Identify and provide any special hardware or software tools.
  • Create a grid of risks and risk management techniques.
  • Evaluate your current management tools and methods.
  • Define and line up your “project partnerships.”

Constant Re-Evaluation

Now that you have all the data and resources you need, be sure you believe in and are fully committed to the project. Then get your sponsor’s decision about whether it can proceed. Once these elements are in place, move ahead. Keep your program in a state of flow. Don’t settle into fixed solutions too quickly. Begin with several options, and test them to identify the best path. An eXtreme project’s manager should constantly ask if the planned program is still the right project. Remain aware that you still have time to pull the plug. This is a valid, important choice; do not dismiss it because you have a fever to push ahead. Always do what is best for your company rather than marching through a plan simply because it has approval.

“Extreme projects are like jazz. To the unaccustomed ear, jazz might appear to be random and chaotic, but it is not. There is a framework, and the jazz musician has a lot of room to improvise within it.”

If the undertaking is going to fail, figure that out early so it costs less. With a short program lasting half a year or less, re-evaluate every three or four weeks, particularly if you have only a conditional go-ahead. Re-evaluations require judging the future and deciding on an ongoing basis whether your assignment remains a good fit or a good fix for the problem the firm is addressing. You do not want to have to look back and assign blame or wax nostalgic. Since delivering your service or product is often a cyclical process, hold daily huddles to deal with issues as they arise so the project does not stall. Be sure your deliverable accomplishes the required tasks and fulfills your sponsor’s mission. Find out if your firm’s staff needs training to harvest the deliverable’s benefits and profits. Recognize the lessons you are learning and document them. “The process of discovery characterizes the heart of eXtreme project management,” and such learning conveys value you can use to your benefit in future missions.

Successful Project Communication

Because eXtreme projects focus on speed and quick adaptation, your team must communicate moment-by-moment in real time. Let everyone know what you expect, and solicit feedback about matters you need to handle differently. While you can use a range of technologies, be sure that your communication system takes advantage of the web and includes everyone who needs to tap into it. Your system should be a robust, accessible, trusted resource of project information and a means of collaboration. Rather than trying to implement a perfect system, settle for one that is good enough and available quickly. Install a customizable system that doesn’t need many support resources and that you can upgrade when new technology comes along. Your team members and corporate users will infect each other with enthusiasm or hatred for your communications system.

“Jazz is not ad hoc. Nor is eXtreme project management, as many mistakenly believe.”

Extreme project management demands cutting through bureaucracy. Work across organizational silos, not within them. Calibrate your tasks and assign specific responsibility. Align your eXtreme methods flexibly with your customers’ wishes. Focus on relationships rather than flogging people to accomplish tasks. Emphasize learning by doing. Since the world now behaves like a series of eXtreme projects, adopt a mind-set that helps you function in that context.

About the Author

Extreme project management teacher and facilitator Doug DeCarlo has worked with more than 250 project teams.

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eXtreme Project Management

Book eXtreme Project Management

Using Leadership, Principles, and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility

Jossey-Bass,
 


13 May 2025

Twitter Power

Recommendation

Comm’s book will alert you to the real business possibilities of Twitter. He guides new and intermediate Twitter users through the whole process of using Twitter productively, from creating a profile to building a following to measuring your success. He also explains how to get business results on Twitter and how to measure those results. While Comm covers the basics for beginners, even experienced users will discover tidbits that will improve how they tweet. BooksInShort needs more than 140 characters to recommend Comm’s book, which gives corporate communicators, brand managers and individuals the information they need to do Twitter right.

Take-Aways

  • Twitter helps companies build relationships, enhance brands, find resources and attract new Web site visitors.
  • People post messages on Twitter in 140-character “tweets.”
  • People like Twitter’s immediacy and easy two-way communication.
  • For optimal branding, create a thorough profile on Twitter complete with your unique background story.
  • Social media gives you access to millions of connections and prospects, but building a following on Twitter requires providing good, engaging tweets.
  • Connect with your customers by keeping them up-to-date with early peeks or other opportunities.
  • Successful businesses promote their brands on Twitter without being promotional.
  • Third-party applications create interfaces a business can use to monitor or automate its Twitter activities.
  • Starbucks uses its Twitter account to respond to customer queries.
  • To see whether your Twitter strategy is working, track your followers and responses to your tweets.

Summary

Twitter: Powerful Social Media in 140 Characters or Less

The interaction between a person who posts original content and the people who reply to that content constitutes the social aspect of online social media. The content that emerges from these conversations builds virtual communities and connections that businesses can use to reach their markets and build brand loyalty. Twitter differs from other social media sites and from other blogs because its conversations take place in bite-sized, 140-character-maximum chunks, “because that’s all that can fit through SMS [mobile text messaging] systems.” Twitter isn’t the only microblogging social media service. Facebook and LinkedIn each offer options for microblogging to update your current status. While these features don’t have size limits like Twitter, their entries do tend to be short.

“The goal of using Twitter is to build relationships – especially relationships that can benefit your company.”

The social media can connect your business to a large audience. Facebook “claims” more than 60 million “active” members. The Internet hosts more than 100 million English-language blogs. Twitter already has more than three million users with no end in sight, and its largest user group fits an ideal consumer demographic: professionals from 35 to 44 years old with good salaries.

“Social media is all about personal branding.”

Blogs belong to the category of social media because they open the door to interactions among interested audiences, often with very targeted demographic profiles. While most social media sites are public, only people with access can enter or drive the conversations in a blog. Some membership sites provide communities for those with shared interests in niche topics. For example, photography sites offer an interactive community where people can connect and even sell their work.

“Web sites have users, Facebook has friends and Twitter has followers.”

Twitter, which benefited from word-of-mouth early on, has received more attention than other microblogging services. To use it, just sign up, write a short note called a “tweet” and start reading other people’s tweets. The people who track your tweets, called your “followers,” will see your notes, and you’ll see tweets from people you follow. Users can send quick messages for instant feedback without paying the fees that most communication companies charge. Journalism student James Buck showed Twitter’s reach when he was arrested in Egypt for taking pictures at a demonstration. He sent the message, “Arrested,” by cell phone to his Twitter followers. They told the U.S. Embassy and his university, which hired an attorney. Officials let Buck go the next day, though they jailed and mistreated his Twitter-less interpreter for three months.

How to Start Using Twitter

Picking a user name is the first thing you do when you join Twitter. Unfortunately, many people don’t think this through. Other people can find you by using the Twitter search engine or by adding your name to the twitter URL. (Try twitter.com/stevejobs, for example.) Pick a logical, relevant name so people can remember it. When you register, Twitter lets you download your contact list from various Web-based e-mail applications. Don’t do that right away, since your account won’t yet have any tweets and people generally don’t follow friends with blank profiles. Since following others is the best way to get people to follow you, set your promotional direction and then add some content before you broadcast.

“The benefits – and the fun – of Twitter aren’t at the beginning when you’re building your follower list.”

Decide what brand name you want to promote with your Twitter user ID: your name, company name, product or Web site? Your user ID (ABC Brands) isn’t the same as the personal name (Jane) you use in the “Name” field, so tThis decision depends on how you plan to use Twitter. You may want more than one ID, perhaps, one for business and one that’s personal, or one for each brand. Twitter allows you to protect your updates so no one can see your tweets unless you approve, but protecting your account makes it harder for you to use Twitter for marketing. Also, this is not the time to be camera shy. If you don’t upload a good photo in Twitter, people won’t take you seriously. You can upload an image, but a photograph has more impact.

“While there are strategies to make that process faster...no one ever builds a four-figure follower list overnight.”

Twitter lets you put a URL in your profile to link it to your Web site, a special promotion, a unique biography page or anything else. You can change it regularly to reflect your current projects or promotions. The last item in your registration is your biography, where Twitter “asks you to summarize your life in 160 characters.” A good “bio” states a few basic things about you and ends with a personal statement, like, “Wedding photographer, portrait pro and creative artist who likes to photograph his kids at embarrassing moments.” Now, you can choose one of Twitter’s backgrounds and be done, but a custom background offers more branding opportunities. If the thought of creating a background image with a sidebar paralyzes you, select a free template or recruit someone to design the background. It should be 80 pixels x 587 pixels on a standard 1898 x 1593 image using a maximum image size of 800kb. Make sure your brand’s profile and background reflect the story you want to tell. The last important thing in your settings is “Notices.” Choosing to receive a notice every time someone new follows you or sends you a private message ensures that you will act on the contact, whether to reply or to follow someone.

“Just as breaking news is now more breaking than ever, businesses can harness the immediacy of Twitter to innovate and build relationships like never before.”

Some people respond to and follow everyone, regardless of their bios and tweets. First find people you want to follow because of shared interests. No magic formula can help you choose people to follow, but Twitter does have a built-in search tool where you can enter keywords to find experts on various subjects, including your professional field. To determine which experts to follow, review their tweets and profiles. Reply to an expert’s tweet to build a relationship and maybe gain new followers if the expert answers you. To relay individual requests or avoid public view, send a personal or “direct” message. To garner an expert’s respect (and gain more followers), share a tidbit the expert doesn’t know or post a link to a valuable resource. Joining a conversation and sharing free information also attracts new followers.

“Part of the site’s appeal isn’t just the pictures; it’s the advice enthusiasts can pick up from experts working in their field and ready to share the benefits of their experience.”

Friends who use Twitter can give you a good start in finding and following people, but building a follower list takes patience. One way to build a business following is to offer a free e-book or a chance to win a prize. If you have a blog or a social media page, connect Twitter to it. Post a Twitter badge on your blog and send tweets to your Facebook account. Add your Twitter name to your e-mail signature, e-mail newsletter, business card and other communications tools.

How to Do Twitter Right

Failing to follow Twitter etiquette can affect your following, so heed these rules of conduct:

  1. “Don’t spam” – Users recognize spammers because they follow lots of people and spew out pushy content, but few people follow them.
  2. “Follow style rules” – Don’t tweet in all-caps. Remember that some people don’t know SMS texting language and its shortcuts.
  3. “Give credit for retweets” – If you repeat someone else’s tweet, that’s a retweet or RT. Credit the first sender by noting “Retweet @username” before the original message.
  4. “Stick to 140 characters” – Don’t break messages longer than 140 characters into multiple tweets. This confuses recipients; stick to one tweet at a time.
  5. “Follow people who follow you” – People break this rule because they have no interest in some of their followers or they’re spammers. When you open a new Twitter account, build it up by “following back” your followers.
“Good content on Twitter needs to be entertaining. It needs to be informative. It needs to be valuable. And it needs to be short.”

You know you’re doing things right when your following grows and people refer to your tweets. Doing Twitter right means sharing valuable, insightful information, asking valid questions or triggering good conversations. You could also send a broadcast, a statement tweet that makes an announcement, shares new information or posts a famous quote. A broadcast doesn’t include another Twitter user’s ID or any links. To avoid boring people, limit your broadcast tweets.

“When your followers hit the ‘reply’ button to tell you what they think, they’re also going to be telling their followers what they think.”

Some members appear on Twitter only to announce new links from their Web sites by way of services like Twitterfeed that update their Twitter IDs every time they post something new. Not every user can pull this off since some people won’t follow users whose tweets are all links. You can share the occasional, “What are you doing?” tweet, but spice it up with interesting details. Instead of “About to take a nap,” write, “About to take a nap. Fingers already half-asleep. Summertime always does this to me.” Such notes give people insight into your personality, just as reading other people's tweets tells you something about them.

Communicating with Customers and Your Team

Use Twitter to ask your customers for feedback about your products or services. They’ll love having a say and perhaps they’ll spread the word about you with their answering tweets. If you want to ask a question that you don’t want to air in public, send a direct message to your customers. Remember that Twitter feedback will be short. Set up alerts using services like Tweetbeep to track mentions of your company, competitors and industry. When someone mentions your business, you can respond. If people compliment you, take notice and thank them. If you are building a team, see if the potential members use Twitter. That may show you whether they keep up with social media and technology. You may want to set up a protected, members-only Twitter account for team members, particularly if some of them work far away from the parent office. Personal tweets remind members that they’re working with real people.

“The Internet might have changed some of the ways that advertising works, but brand building is still important.”

Third-party applications can save time and support your Twitter efforts. For example, some sites enable you to schedule tweets so you can spread your messages out without being on Twitter all day. You can take Twitter with you using mobile cell phone apps. Some Twitter apps let you cluster your followers by topic, location or another trait; and they let you use Twitter without going to twitter.com. “Yellow pages” for Twitter Web sites allow you to search for Twitter users by job, company, industry and other profile categories.

Build Your Brand on Twitter

Before you jump into Twitter, plan how you want to support your brand, what you want your brand to represent and how you want others to see it. Consider ways to tell its story. Mars, the makers of M&Ms candies, changes the background of its Twitter profile based on its current ad campaign. The brand’s creativity, sense of fun and skilled storytelling resonate with consumers.

“Even some of the world’s biggest companies have recognized the power of Twitter to drive home their message, and while not all of them are doing it correctly, a number have come up with some valuable models anyone can copy.”

To make the most of Twitter for your company, add a human touch. Starbucks’ Twitter account uses the company name and logo, but employees answer customers’ questions in a warm, personable way in its tweets. Smart firms’ tweets offer more than customer service, including tips, response to feedback, and targeted offers or coupons. When you promote on Twitter, avoid the hard sell. To relay a corporate message, be human but not too personal; for an individual brand, share your thoughts but don’t make constant offers. When staff members tweet for your brand, limit your control and let them show some personality. If you use Twitter for a campaign, continue using it after the promotion ends. You’ll have built up a following and, perhaps, some momentum. Sticking with Twitter will help your business stay in people’s minds.

“Plenty of smart companies are using it to build a brand, turn their customers into a community, and cement the name of their products in the minds of their market.”

Work on building relationships and gaining trust, so people feel drawn to your site. Write tweets that link to entries on your blog and use Twitter to get people to read it. For example, send a tweet explaining the value customers will get from a blog entry. When people receive more information and see value, they will click on your link. To drive your followers to read your blog, reply to their tweets, answer questions, share advice and do things for them. Involve people by asking them what they’d like to read on the blog. The same applies to promoting affiliate links or getting partners to register on your site. Maintain the final say on content since you know your audience.

“Use your account for good purposes. Use it to make friends and help people. It’s a jungle out there, so be careful and play nice.”

To avoid any legal ramifications of your Twitter use, maintain normal social restraints while using Twitter; that is, avoid hurting others, revealing secrets, breaking contracts, appropriating other people’s brand or infringing on their copyrights. If you’re not sure what to do, ask a lawyer.

Measuring Your Success

Since Twitter doesn’t provide statistics, how can you measure your success? To collect your own stats, test your tweets and then track the number of times people retweet your original tweet or reply to you. You can track the followers you’ve retweeted or replied to, and record the number of followers you have before and after a tweet. Of course, some followers might follow for reasons that are unrelated to that tweet, but over time you can get an idea of what works. Tie trendy Twitter topics to your tweets for more visibility. And, while you’re tweeting, have some fun.

About the Authors

Joel Comm, the author of The AdSense Code and Click Here to Order, speaks and writes often about Internet marketing and making money online. His business partner Ken Burge is president of InfoMedia, Inc.

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Twitter Power

Book Twitter Power

How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time

Wiley,
 


13 May 2025

High Altitude Leadership

Recommendation

Chris Warner certainly is not the first mountain climber to chronicle harrowing journeys and near-death experiences scaling the high peaks of the Himalayas. What makes Warner unique is his ability to extract critical lessons from his adventures and shape them to be relevant for business leaders at sea level. Warner and Don Schmincke have produced a fascinating book that pinpoints the qualities managers need to not just survive, but thrive. Bravery, teamwork and decisiveness, they say, are just as important in the conference room as on the Khumbu Ice Fall of Mt. Everest. BooksInShort recommends the authors’ sage advice. You’ll find yourself on solid footing as you negotiate the higher elevations of leadership.

Take-Aways

  • Leadership is challenging whether you guide a mountain expedition or manage an organization.
  • Overcoming your fears will make you a better leader.
  • “Dangerous, unproductive, dysfunctional (DUD) behavior” can irreparably damage your organization. It reduces productivity by an average of 50%.
  • Create a “compelling saga” to overcome selfishness in your organization.
  • Simply having the best tools won’t make you the best leader.
  • Arrogant leaders who believe they know everything set their organizations up for failure
  • Leadership does not occur in a vacuum. You need the help of others to succeed.
  • Push yourself and your company beyond your “comfort zone,” but remember that wise leaders – and climbers – know the difference between bravery and foolishness.
  • You can be successful without ever reaching the summit.
  • Accept the role of luck in your successes and failures.

Summary

Climb Higher

What do a mountain climber leading an expedition in the Himalayas and a corporate leader managing a company have in common? Although circumstances at 26,000 feet (7,900 meters) clearly are different than those in the office, both leaders frequently face dire situations. You need the same attributes for conquering impossibly difficult peaks that you need for maneuvering organizations through a maze of business challenges. The qualities that allow individuals to reach the summit of Mt. Everest also enable business leaders to perform at high levels.

“Whether on a mountain or at work, leading others can quickly become difficult and dangerous.”

Like mountain climbers in the Death Zone, executives and managers must make instinctive, critical decisions that will avert danger or trigger an avalanche. Their businesses may be struggling to survive, placing the workforce in a “life-or-death” situation. Meeting the demands of “high altitude leadership” is a huge challenge that requires understanding the eight greatest dangers managers face. How you respond determines whether you succeed or fail.

“Danger No. 1: Fear of Death”

Author Chris Warner was on a particularly difficult expedition on K2, the world’s second highest summit, when one of the mountaineers, Nima, fell and died. The other climbers were petrified.

“How you respond in the face of real dangers defines you as a leader.”

Forcing himself to think clearly, Chris snapped himself into action, “Listen, if you didn’t think this would happen, you’re delusional. Are you going to let this stop you?” He paid his respect to Nima and offered condolences to his friends – then pushed further. “We...had to accept the possibility of our death if we were to continue. If we didn’t accept what we always knew was a possibility, we would fail. Soon most of us are heading upward.”

“Those in your organization who do embrace death successfully will never look back: Embracing death allows decisive action in careers and organizations.”

Fear is a powerful and paralyzing emotion, but mountaineers cannot climb high peaks without facing their fears. Neither can the leaders in a boardroom. Many individuals are simply too scared to make the right decisions. For example, an executive can sabotage an organization by failing to fire an incompetent salesperson because he or she has been with the company for 25 years.

“Without a little adrenaline, our lives would become boring and our team would stop focusing on its true goal.”

Executives rarely face life-and-death situations, but “metaphorical death” can be an equally powerful experience. The devastating effects of a corporate bankruptcy, for instance, are less severe if the company forges ahead and seeks new ways to build a viable business.

Beyond just accepting fear, actively look for it. Good managers and organizations understand the importance of pushing the envelope. Growth isn’t possible if you don’t venture into the unknown, confront your fears and accept the possibility of failure. Climb higher; don’t be scared to take chances.

“Danger No. 2: Selfishness”

Never underestimate the damage a big ego can cause. A selfish climber who is determined to reach the summit despite dire weather conditions can jeopardize the safety of the entire expedition. A selfish employee who puts his or her career ahead of the team, undermines a colleague to gain favor with the boss or heaps blame upon others can cause irreparable harm.

“When your ego drives you, the results are never pretty.”

Selfishness in an organization manifests itself as “dangerous, unproductive, dysfunctional (DUD) behavior.” One ten-year study indicated that DUD behavior decreased productivity by an average of 50%. Due to DUD behavior, meetings and projects take longer than they should; employees whisper about each other instead of communicating with each other; people don’t speak up in meetings or when they see a project will likely fail; they believe that co-workers are manipulative liars. As a result, DUD behavior severely diminishes profits, erodes products and services, increases the likelihood of law cases, weakens your competitive edge and demotivates employees.

“With the best equipment in the world the man with poor judgment is in mortal danger.” (Royal Robbins, climber and entrepreneur)

Selfishness is “biological, not cultural.” It is a survival instinct that enables a species to survive and evolve. One expedition leader noticed that people regularly helped each other out and behaved like team members on the way up to the summit. However, the teams usually fell apart on the way down. Their connecting tissue was the shared passion, the common goal to reach the top. Without it, people’s innate selfishness surfaced and the groups split into silos.

“We can teach anyone to do just about any job in this company other than fly the plane. The problem we’re concerned about is attitude. We can’t teach that. And that’s what we screen for in our hiring process.” (Southwest Airlines gate agent)

To combat selfishness, create a “compelling saga,” a cause or mission that inspires people to join forces for the greater good. Passion enables individuals and organizations to persevere against overwhelming odds. Passion keeps dreams alive and gives people a reason to come to work every day. Your company’s compelling saga should have a “dramatic theme,” “set a goal that is difficult to achieve,” “focus people on strategic results” and “spawn stories and legends that permeate your organization’s culture.” Use stories that incorporate strategy, foresight, ethics and ideals. Above all, adopt an approach that gives you the best chance of reaching the summit.

“Danger No. 3: Tool Seduction”

The best climbers are not necessarily the ones with the best gear. They may be even worse because they believe expensive equipment can replace proper technique. Many executives are enamored with educational programming, leadership theory and management consulting. They send employees to training seminars or adopt the latest motivational strategies aimed at boosting morale and increasing productivity. Unfortunately, nearly three-quarters of such initiatives fail. Most organizations already have the tools to succeed, but their results depend on “behavior and adaptation.” The world’s finest equipment won’t help a climber who doesn’t act properly.

“Employees aren’t stupid. They know the bad news already. They want to see if their leaders have the courage to acknowledge it.”

Successful companies such as Southwest Airlines and Disney hire people based on personality and attitude, not their resumes. Your organization’s screening process should include methods for measuring adaptability, professionalism, potential and the ability to get along with co-workers and administrators. Remain flexible and don’t rely on tools that are no longer effective. Your company’s system for manufacturing widgets may be unmatched, but that won’t help if your customers are buying sprockets.

“Danger No. 4: Arrogance”

Egotism has doomed hundreds of mountain climbers and thousands of companies. Leaders who refuse to identify trends, face reality or believe they know everything are courting disaster. Corporate scandals involving Enron and WorldCom revealed the arrogance of executives who flaunted the rules and disregarded the fundamentals of accountability.

“Cynics and curmudgeons do not inspire peak performance in their teams. Depressed

To spot arrogance in your company, ask these questions: Do your employees think they know it all? Have they lost touch with your customer base? Do they fail to recognize competitive threats? Teach yourself and your employees to be humble and to embrace failure as an opportunity to do it better next time. Don’t hesitate to fire egomaniacs who are more interested in taking credit than in cooperating with their colleagues. Understand the importance of holding productive meetings. Handing out kudos to employees who are progressing nicely on projects is fine, but you can use meeting time more efficiently by addressing problems and concerns. Employees might prefer to focus on good performance, but organizations benefit more by discussing ways to improve. Set a good example by talking about your own challenges first.

“Danger No. 5: Lone Heroism”

Some climbers insist on taking on challenges by themselves. They’re convinced that asking for help is a character flaw, even refuse to use oxygen in high altitude and express disdain when someone offers assistance. They may be seeking glory, but often simply believe that no one else is capable of fulfilling the mission. Lone heroes on Mt. Everest who defy logic and disregard common sense often wind up as corpses.

“High altitude leaders know that partnership with peers, staff or outside stakeholders trumps lone heroism every time.”

Lone heroes may be popular in books and movies, but in the workplace they lower team morale, impede progress and ultimately lead to failure. Lone heroes on a battlefield put their comrades at risk. During the Vietnam War, several hundred U.S. officers interested only in gaining the praise and admiration of superiors were murdered by their own men.

“I learned how to handle death as it occurs. We have one job, whether the person is a total stranger or an old friend. We need to push as much love into the person as we can. A departing soul deserves to be honored by the greatest human emotion, love, and it is our job to supply plenty of it.”

Partnerships are the perfect antidote to lone heroism. They can develop between individuals in different departments or between managers and workers. Titles or rank shouldn’t prevent you from selecting the right individual to steer a project or initiative. Secure and self-confident bosses can empower other people without feeling threatened. They recognize leadership qualities in others and happily step aside.

“Danger No. 6: Cowardice”

Leaders and workers often hesitate to admit they’ve made mistakes or to raise questions and objections when they suspect something is wrong. They’re afraid that others will blame them or label them as troublemakers. Your company will suffer if people are too cowardly to speak up when things go wrong or if they don’t dare criticize others’ ideas.

“Maybe consultants should take the same pledge as doctors: ‘Primum non nocere’ (first, do no harm).”

Unfortunately, secrecy and cowardice often are part of corporate culture. Shame can counteract cowardice and push people to act bravely (think of the soldier who is afraid to fight, but too embarrassed to desert). Most people now consider it politically incorrect to shame people into action. Pop psychology suggests that people cannot tolerate attacks on their self-esteem. Yet one study indicates that self-esteem has little to do with achieving success. In fact, people prefer to hear the truth and many recognize when organizations use motivational ploys to cover the truth.

Rooting out cowardice requires unflinching honesty. Start with yourself – do you have the courage to face the problems in your organization? Can you handle exposing them? Encourage the free exchange of ideas and opinions. Make the necessary changes to fix an underperforming unit. Move people around and replace ineffective leaders. Stop having drawn-out, unproductive meetings and don’t allow apathy.

“Danger No. 7: Comfort”

Change is painful for most people. They prefer the familiarity of the status quo. Significant and lasting change requires leaving your comfort zone. Life-changing achievements, like scaling an intimidating peak in Nepal or rescuing your floundering business require fortitude and commitment. Adversity is a true test of leadership and accountability.

Confronting employees who aren’t delivering is unpleasant. Pulling the plug on a project that is languishing is hard. Listening to customer complaints is not easy. But there is no other method for fixing problems.

You must face your challenges head-on and be willing to be uncomfortable. Be careful, though: Don’t push ahead blindly and ignore reality. Mountain climbers on the brink of conquering Mt. Everest have been forced to abandon their summit attempts because of life-threatening circumstances. Perseverance is admirable but not when it flies in the face of logic and common sense.

“Danger No. 8: Gravity”

Surprising avalanches or sudden, fierce winds have swept away the most experienced climbers with the best equipment and strategies. High altitude leaders can do everything right and still come up short. An anticipated promotion may fail to materialize; the market may not accept a product; a strategy may turn out to be flawed in the face of new circumstances; a severe recession rocks the economy and decimates seemingly safe retirement funds. It’s impossible to predict shifts of fortune.

The only way climbers counter gravity is luck, which plays an integral role in success. People frequently take too much credit or blame for outcomes beyond their control. You can improve your odds through hard work, preparation and a good mental attitude. But also be open to new possibilities and welcome unexpected opportunities. Learn to follow your instincts, obey your hunches and play the percentages. Be optimistic and, in the end, expect good luck. Do all you can to position yourself to succeed. The rest is out of your hands.

About the Authors

Chris Warner is an educator and entrepreneur who has led more than 150 international mountaineering expeditions. Don Schmincke is a management consultant and founder of the SAGA Leadership Institute.

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High Altitude Leadership

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