Tackle Summit Fever

Thank you for coming to my blog. Today, I'd like to respond to ch.4 "Stamina" by picking out the second question on Expedition Log: how can we avoid "summit fever"?

There are two possibilities when you run out of stamina. One is when we face to physical or mental obstacles, in another word, a disappointment. We get to be as if we lost any sights for future by facing to something unexpected. That is clear and understandable for us, and of course, I amazed to read how Shackleton tackle to his and others physical difficulties while exploring. With the being said, the other, the psychological phenomenon so-called "summit fever" is really important for leaders to recognize; because it occurs unconsciously and even an experience person possibly gets  it.


By two techniques as follows, leaders must deal with an easy going way of thinking to reach the top of mountain disregarding safety.


Set major goal and minor goal. In business situations, for example, DEADLINE is literally key date of our schedule, and we usually set only one major goal. That means there will be two possibilities; 1 or 0. Once we care about the worse result, 0, we struggle to avoid that situation. As a result, we exceed our limitations unconsciously. To avoid this scenario, leaders have to set another minor goal, a minimum goal to accomplish at least. Once we do that, we can relax and do not go over the top. It relieves the members and allow us not to break the speed limit.


Change the direction temporarily.  As written in the book, when pressure team members feel is extremely high, it is effective to calm down by providing with leisure and recognizing a start point. It  also helps leaders to make project get on track. Being simple is needed for project management because members tend to concentrate on their own tasks and not to see from a broader view point. That is the role of leaders.


These two ways, setting a another goal and changing of pace, are how leaders avoid the summit fever.