kevin donaldson

Over the Labor Day weekend I was able to sneak away and do a fun climb on the 4th highest peak in Idaho. – Diamond Peak (12,197).  The weather couldn’t have been better, allowing us to bang out the 4200 ft of gain over a steep 2.5 miles in 4 hours with another 3 hours on the decent.  In addition to some pictures from the trip, I came up with 5 lessons from mountain scrambling that will help you become a more Agile Organization. 

1. Your approach needs to be sustainable and enjoyable: Make sure you select a target and approach/route that will be enjoyable and sustainable to the team.  Selecting a climb that is too difficult for one of the party can be dangerous or minimally they will not want to do it again.  The same can be true for teams who jump full force into an Agile approach.  Not knowing how to set a sustainable pace with too much complexity can put a bad taste in a team member’s mouth possibly making them not want to do it again.
2. Continuous conditioning:  Assuming #1 is true, conditioning is the next biggest factor.  When you are tired, your vigilance drops – maybe you don’t drink or eat as often as you should, you get sloppy and you make mistakes. In the mountains small mistakes can be costly.   To be an agile organization, agile conditioning is required.  Learning to be comfortable making decisions at the last possible moment but not too late, being comfortable with changing environments, comfort with simple frameworks over complex detailed process's to name a few.
3. Simple Management Frameworks:  This weekend was a class 3 scramble in September.  We went with no ropes, or gear outside of a helmet for safety.  Our next project may be different requiring some different tools added into the system.  Knowing what you are trying to do will help you adjust your ‘management system’ before the start and during the climb.
4. Iterative Feedback and Planning:  During the act of climbing you are watching and interacting - Asking your partner how they are feeling, are they comfortable with the steepness, etc.  Once every 60-70 minutes I stop to assess rate of progress, hydration and energy levels of both myself and others in the party.  At the end of the climb, I do a retrospective – what was my level of enjoyment, did I bring the right gear/clothing based on weather and/or technical complexity, was it a good match to my/our technical abilities. 

5. Make sure everyone has the same goal:  My goal is always to return safely to my car.  It is not to reach the summit – that is only half way.  Goal alignment helps speed decision making, when required.  Knowing what weather conditions are acceptable, and what is not....Having an agreed upon turn around point...Knowing why you are here.