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    20 Mile March

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    10 views4 pages

    20 Mile March

    Uploaded by

    ronaldo.zani
    20 Mile March

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
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    Brett & Kate MeKay [January 6, 2013 ‘A Matis Li, Bersonal Development ‘What’s Your 20 Mile March? [Nine years ago, business authors Jim Coli and Morten : Hansen, along wits team of 20 researchers, set out to answer tis question: Why do some ‘companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? ‘The goup analyzed seven companies that performed not jus better than tv indstry, but fen times better. They discovered very ieresting key finding, The qualities that business gurus fequenly tout as being the man diference-mukers — things Ike novation, ereativy, and the ably to quickly pivot na fast- hanging world — were indeed somewhat important but twas actual Uisipine, fanatic discipline, that was one of be tue master keys of tae companies’ Instead of constamly changing course, making relly aguressive moves, and taking big risks, “1OXers” (as Cllrs and Harsen dubbed these greatly sucessfil companies) came up wath pln, and carefully, methodical, ane consitenly stuck with that plan they moved ever towards the long-term goals stead of geting sie-trcked by short-term tempiations, ears, and changing excurstances. They didn’t panie dur stormy periods, nor di they expand too aggressively during good tines. For example, Southwest Anes made fa goal to create a difirent kin! ofeompany cue, and tun a profit every single year: While the ave fnusty as @ ‘whole lst money during the recession, and other atines axed empoyees and ist piks of cash, Soutvest achieved ther goal keeping themsehes in the bisck ‘br 30 consecutive years witout ever baveg to filough single employee. As Colles and Hansen explain inthe book that emerged fom their research on 10X companies, Great by Choice, Southwest did trough cre, consistent growth: “Southwest had the dscpine to bold ack in good times so as nt to extend beyond its ability to preserve profisbilty and the Southwest cube, It dint expand outsie Texas until neal ight yeers afer starting service, aking a smal ump to New Orkans. Southwest moved outward Eom "Texas in deliberate steps — Oklahoma City, Tusa, Albuquerque, Phoenit, Los Angels — and didn't each the eastem seaboard nil aknost a quarter of century afer is finding. In 1996, more than a hundred cites clamored for Southwest service. And how many ces did Southwest ‘open that year? Four” ‘The 20 Mile March CColins and Morten dubbed the slow and steady approach taken by Southwest and otber 1OX companies “The 20 Mile March” They took this moniker fom. Jmaghng a man determined to wel actoss the United States, ad how he could accomplish his pal faster by commiting to walking 20 mies every single day in or shine — rather than Weking fbr 40-50 mies in good weather and then very few miles or not ata during inclemext conditions ‘The pair ter cam upon the story of he race between Robert Fakon Scot and Roakl Amundsen tobe the fist to reach the Soulh Poke, and they were amazed {o discover how the diferences ithe way the two expediions were executed ao alied with thet 20 Mle March idea. Amundsen beat Scott othe Pole and Jad a prety smooth and uneven joumey bot there and back. Scol reached the Poke only to fice the crushing reazation tat the Norwegians had been there ‘it, and he and his our men perished on the grueling 700ml retum rip. Colins and Hansen ound hat among he anyother Iessons comprng the (vo ‘xpedions can teach us, is that much of Amundsen succes canbe traced to creating is own plan, and then carrying it ou with methodical, dscinined ‘consistency. In other words, sticking wih his 20 Mile March. Your 20 Mile March ‘As Tread Great by Choice, was struck by how applcabl the 20 Mile March priipie was not sinply to corporations or por expeditions, but to eval Ties as well Many ofthe men I see strugalng to improve themselves usualy tackle thor goal through an neviably less series of isan saris. They ge all excited about anew goal or program for themselves and throw themselves ino it with gusto, only to soon get burned ou, sidetracked by the next coal ee thing, or demoralized bya setback. This pattern aves an unending a of unfixed projects in their wake. | completly sympathize wit these gents, because I've done tha too! But a | evaiate the times I've been successilin i, I notice a pater, It usualy wasn't trough big Herculean effi, or snazzy new productviy plans that | achieved my goals, but rather through steady, consistent eft. I reached my gook by throwing on my knapsack every single day and setting off on a 20 Mie March. ‘The Seven Elements of a Good 20 Mile March Inte book, Coins and Morten lay out seven cements tht create # good 20 Mie Maret: 1. Chea perfomance markers 2, SelEimposed constraints 3. Appropriate tothe enterprise [or individual] 4. Largely within your contol 5. A proper tmefZame — long enough to manage, yet short enough to lave teeth 6, Designed and seltinposed by the enterprise [or inva] 17. Achieved with high consistency Below we take a lok at each ofthese clments one-by-one, Becase I thik isso instustive, we'l fist take a lok at how each ofthese elements psyed out inthe race tothe South Pol We'llthen explore how we can apply these elements in our own Ines to ereate our own 20 Mie Marches. stone eh spore aks thas inet bond of ce ecm, The ete pron seen men iow this clement applied o the race to the South Pole, Roald Arandsen at his team of five men skied and sledged for 1S nautical mies day 6 hours and went an average of ‘Yet Amundsen didnot measure his daily progres in hours, or even individual mies instead, he wsed degrees Fileennauical mies represents one-quarter of gee of atiue, and Amundsen realized tht knocking off one degree of atiude every four days ad beng able 1 imagine themsshes inching thet way across the map would be hghiy motivating fr the team. One-quarer ofa degroe of tude every singe day: ths was Amandsen's clar performance marker, Fifeen mies a day wasn’ @ walk inthe park, bu t wast exhnusting ether, Athough took grit and dsp, was apace that was doable in ir conditions as wellas ful wheter it was eal or foggy or feezing, whether i was smooth sang over fat tena, or a team member and his dogs flo a crevasse and Jn to be pulled out...on the men went, geting inthe fifeen mies a day. ‘Scot onthe other hand, didnot have a consstect goal for how fare hoped fo go each day — keting the day weather conditions and his Muctuting cigs of ‘motivation ditate the pace. Ona day with ideal conditions, he might push the men to trudge fr 9 hours ata tne. When the weatber tuned uy he mit ecideto not lave his tent at all even though Amundsen was out i sina condtns. How this clement applies to your own ife: Your performance markers basically stout your pace en route to your goal the minimum eff you commited to making every dayweck to get to where you want be. This pace has tobe hand enough o stretch you when conditions your lit ae ideal, but silldoable — as lng as you exerexe grt and discipine — during times when the poop his the fan, or you're simpy not inthe mood, So for examph,ifyour goes to start exering reguly, and you don't exercise a allght now, crating a goal to work out for 90 minutes 6X a week is probably going o be impossible fo stick with. stead, pick a goa that’s going to be dificult for you, but stil doable ifyou're wing to work hard — say 45 smigutes, Xa week. fyou'r looking o wrt the next great American novel, conser setting a numberof words you will write every day. Author JG Ballard (and many othe ‘wt took ths approach: “Al through my carer I've writen 1,000 words a day— even fI've gota hangover. You've got to discipline yourelifyou're professional There's no ater way.” 2. A good 20 Mile March has self-imposed constraints. This creates an upper bound for how far you'll march when facing robust opportunity and ‘exceptionally good conditions. These constraints should also produce discomfort in the face of pressures and fear that you should be going faster and doing more. ‘How this element applied tothe race to the South Pole. Anundsen kept up his 15-mie-a-day pace fr three-fourths ofhis journey to and fom the Pol ‘When was nearing 90 degrees souls, he increased the pace a litle to 20 ris a day, and di he sume thing a he got chose tos hase camp on the return tp But other than these sal deviations, twas 1S miles the whole way fr him I's not that he cout have easly pushed the team and ther dogs to do mane — they were heathy and eager — but he detberataly chose this pace so a to not exhaust his team and run the rsk of juris an sicleness, Amandsen's men pessed most oftheir "down tine” esting in ther seeping bags — up to 16 hous a day. But Amundsen saw tis es as ¢ vial part ofthe overall pn. For Scott, impatience was one ofhis weaknesses; he didn't Bke siting around and any kind of delay rade him Rel anus, He ao fh hat ifan eto did't tax you completely it hadn't been enough Even afer along day of arcing, he might deci to keep on pushing Apsley Chery-Garrard, who accompanied him part ofthe way tothe Pole, recalled: "After rine or ten hours on the march, Scot would si, ‘Oh, wel, think we'llgo on a ite it more’. ight be an hour or more before we Balled and made our camp: somesenes a Dizzard had is siver Bring.” Because Scot aivays ike to be going, it was harder fr him to see how equally important rest was in the short-tenm in achieving his long-term goal Scott pushed hs men so hard on the wey out othe Poke thatthe men didnot have enough stength left or wha turned out to be an even more arduous return journey How this element applies to your own life. A20 Mie March creates two fms of icons. The fst i the stain om iting your performance makers as ‘outined inthe fst lomens. Bu the second frm of disconsrt can actually bo mote dificult to deal with— and that's holding back, even when conitons are Seal for pushing harder. Is easy to get excited about a goa nd go fil trot afer, but ths equemly leads to bur ou ant extn bere you e reach what you're afer. I's ako easy fo panic when you see wit other peopl ae doing stead of reming your own race. Sei imposed constrains Keep your short-term temptations in checkin fvor of contiming to steady progress towards your goal. For example, our newbie exerciser above might set 60 minutes a day as hs max workout tim, so hat he doesnt work ou fortwo hows on days he's eng ‘0d and his schedule i ee, and then fel so ted he doesnt work out at allthe next da: This clement is especialy important to remember when You're starting your own business or sie haste. You look around at what some other guy is dong, how his webste looks, and what features he's rong out, aed are suddenly best with anxiety an slE-doubt that others are outpacing you and doinga beter ob, ‘Your panic runs oto a decison to expand into things ha aren't really part of your vision, which weakens the enterprise and can lead to fae, Oftentimes, ‘when you actualy take a minute to reflect on the reaty ofthe siuation, you're not realy tying do wha the other guy send you're unfiely comparing apples and oranges, Make comections when noeded, but ty to stick with your ov plan. 4. There's no all-purpose 20 Mile March forall enterprises [individuals A good 20 Mile March is tailored to the enterprise [individual] and its [his] environment. How this element applied tothe race tothe South Pole. One ofthe bigest fictors lading to the fidure and success ofthe respective expeditions centered ‘on the forms of transpomation each leader chose. ‘Scot, who pattemed much of is tek afer Ernest Shacketon’s 1907 Nimrod expedition, decided to wse horses fora quater ofthe trek sad then man-baulng (the men put themsebes ina hamess connected to sledges and pulled them, step by step, through the ie and snow) forthe rest, just as his predecessor nd. But Dorses were i-sued to Arctic conditions; they sweated through he hides, whic then oz ito sheets of ce and they had to Be covered with blankets and covers to be kept warm, Moreover, thet heavy weight and rtrow fet ersured that ty sik deep into the stow and ie with every’ step. The man hau Was

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