On the Edge Chapter 5

Complacency will kill you

Levine starts off by talking about all of these very experienced and world renowned climbers fall to their death because of many stupid reasons.

One died because he had climbed so many times he was assured he did not need to clip himself to a safety line while going across the ladders through the Khumbu Icefall

Another decided to use a slightly worn harness that ending up snapping and he fell to his death

It is easy to become complacent when something seem routine. It will kill because unpredictable things can happen like an avalanche. To avoid complacency, you must keep yourself and your teammates in check. Complacency is also following the crowd and not knowing how to adapt.

This is why companies  like Ford and Blackberry almost went bankrupt

She also talks about the Khumbu Icefall moving ice with many dangerous cervas that you get across by walking across shaking ladders.  There are also 62 foot tall seracs that could fall at any time.  It is also in between Camp 1 and Camp 2. Even though an Everest climber goes through it up to 7 times, she stresses that it is important that a climber does not to become complacent because it is very unpredictable terrain

On the Edge Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Friends in High Places

This chapter really taught me about the importance of networking.  

The first thing Levine does when she gets to base camp is to go introduce herself to the other teams. People are more willing to help people they know.  She gave the example of climbers leaving an injured climber to die on summit day.  She talked about an instance where a lone climber was left for dead by others because they did not know him.  Another example is where a man saw a guy that he met at base camp and gave up his chance to reach the summit to save the other man’s life.  

“Think about who you may need to call on for help at some point, and make sure you have relationships in place before you need the help.”

“ There are time in life where you have to step up --- even if you feel like you aren't ready.”

Levine talks about how she got her corporate sponsor, Ford.  If she would not have maintained her college network, she would have never had a friend who worked at Ford who could send her proposal to executives.

The statement “people are more willing to help people they know” really resignated with me.  I am usually a little nervous about networking especially with adults.  I now know if I do not put myself out there, I could miss out on an opportunity of a lifetime.  

On the Edge Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Choosing a Team

Levine talk about how she picked the ladies to participate in the first American Women’s Expedition to Everest.  She talks about some people were in it for the wrong reasons, asking how much they were getting paid and what private jet would they take.  They actually did not get paid at all to do this trip

She learned about the importance of ego from Coach K, a renowned coach for Team USA’s basketball team.

He talked about two types of egos

1. performance ego - which shows that they players has confidence in their abilities
2. team ego - players feel like they are privileged to be apart of this team

In the end, players are confident their own and the team’s abilities to be successful

“Just because you have a group of people doing the same thing at the same time with the same goal does not make you a team.  A group is only a team when every member of the group cares as much about helping the other members as they care about helping themselves.”  She compares this to a time to when she climbed Mount Everest without a team.  No one had any obligations to take others people’s opinions into consideration

because everyone was there for their own reasons. There was no common goal

Coach K said’ “If you try to win alone and you’re successful, you’re going to jump up to celebrate alone.”

On the Edge Chapter 2

It is false that progress is “ a constant forward motion in the same direction”

Levine talks about the rigorous climb of Mount Everest.  An Everest climb is not straight to the top.  Here is the order

1. Base Camp
2. Camp 1
3. Back to Base Camp
4. Back to Camp 1
5. Camp 2
6. Back to Base Camp
7. Back to Camp 1
8. Back to Camp 2
9. Camp 3
10. Back to Base Camp
11. Back to Camp 1
12. Back to Camp 2
13. Back to Camp 3
    then the Summit (or the top)
     

There is so much back tracking you must do because the human body has to go through acclimatization - the process of getting use to higher elevations by the body producing more red blood cells to carry oxygen more evenly through the body

If you dont do this, you can get very dangerous altitude illnesses

“The mental trick is to understand that going down does not mean you’re losing ground, but rather strengthening the foundation of your effort.” 

Absent

I was not here, due to snow. 

On the Edge Chapter 1

Here are my takeaways from Chapter 1 of On the Edge

If you are caught unprepared, let it be for something that you can not control.  At least then you don't question your ability

Ex.  Many people on high mountains turn around because of unforeseen environmental factors.  Otherwise, they are asking themselves could I have trained harder?.

People expect more from you when you are a leader, so make sure you come prepared in every way.

“To be an effective leader, it’s important that you condition yourself for time that sleep is not an option.”

Many people would say I have this covered.  I can make it through a day with only 4 hours of sleep

Levine talks about a how you want to go on a climb with people more skilled than yourself, same when choosing teammates.  If you surround yourself with people better than you, you will get better.

She also talks about the importance of finding a mentor.  She said, “ Don’t wait for mentors to come to you.”  

“When you see someone scared about making huge leap-reach out”

Levine also talk about how you can develop a strong team by allowing others to lead and empowering others to take responsibility. It helps the leader share the workload.   It also prepare them for worst case scenarios.

Ex. the 1996 Everest climb - the team leaders where not to be found during a deadly storm, so many just sat in confusion.

“Good leaders understand it's their duty to develop leadership skills in others”

Lean Startup Chapter 12

Here is the Last Chapter of Lean Startup!

First a recap on vanity metrics

an overly long cycle time

the use of large batch sizes

an unclear growth hypothesis

a weak experimental design

a lack of team ownership

With these there is very little learning

The innovation sandbox

The sandbox also promotes rapid iteration. When people have a chance to see a project through from start to end, they benefit from the power of feedback.

By making the batch size small, the sandbox method allows teams to make cheap mistakes quickly and start learning.  Small initial experiments can demonstrate that a team has a viable new business that can be integrated back into the parent company.

Ries talk about how entrepreneurship should be considered a career path for innovators inside large organizations. Managers who can lead teams by using the Lean Startup methodology should not have to leave the company to reap the rewards of their skills.  Instead, “they should have a business card that says simply "Entrepreneur" under the

name.”

Questioning the Lean Startup

“Those who look to adopt the Lean Startup as a defined set of steps or tactics will not succeed. I had to learn this the hard way.” It is true that if we try a new way of working, people will blame the new system for the problems that arise  “You have to be able to predict the outcome of the changes you make to tell if the problems that result are really problems.”