Many business consultants will make a correlation between mountain climbing and running an enterprise, from the mix of confidence, optimism, determination to the rigour, skills, and help needed to make it to the summit. There is a very great difference though between mountain climbing and business that makes one deadlier than the other- in climbing full concentration is on the work at hand, in business it is muddled with politics, egos, and sometimes even lack of purpose.
And perhaps it is this very simplicity in purpose of a mountain ascent that beckons many in the business world to try to summit the most challenging mountains in the world. A mix of adventure that can go wrong and an incredible sense of accomplishment, complete with bragging rights that only a few have ever achieved the same, makes most entrepreneurs appreciate the climb. The daring and unknown end of a difficult mountain ascent is a microcosmic version of entrepreneurship sans that stuff that make it dreary.
Interestingly, while reading about this subject matter, it was brought to my attention that author Jon Krakauer who wrote Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster has pointed out that that it is actually harder to climb the second-highest peak of each continent instead of the highest. Collectively, they are known as “the Seven Second Summits”, each of the seven being the highest peak of their continent.
SYNOPSIS FROM WIKIPEDIA
In Asia K2 (8,611 m) demands greater technical climbing skills than Everest (8,848 m), while altitude-related factors such as the thinness of the atmosphere, high winds and low temperatures remain much the same. The summit of Mount Kenya (5,199 m) is a rock climb, while Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) can be ascended without any technical difficulty.
In North America, some sources consider Mount Logan a more difficult climb than Mount McKinley (generally known as Denali in the climbing community), although the climbing and outdoor recreation website Summitpost considers Logan no more difficult than Denali, because it is neither technical nor steep.
In South America Ojos del Salado involves a short scramble while Aconcagua is just a walk. In Europe Dykh-Tau is a considerably harder climb than Mount Elbrus. In Australia Mount Townsend is a considerably more challenging climb than Mount Kosciuszko, even though both are relatively easy.
I find this fact fascinating … does the same case play out in the businessworld? Is it easier to be / stay first or second?
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