In risk acceptance and assessment, why failure has to be a likely outcome.
Summit metaphors capture the uncertainty relating to the task of building a successful business. Despite adversity, the entrepreneur presses on to reach the summit. Often, it’s the exceedingly difficult journey, the venture that balances on the edge of failure, that reveals greatness far more clearly than the straight-forward, victorious ascent.
In 2008, three elite climbers, Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk, planned to climb the precarious Shark’s Fin route on Mount Meru, a 21,850-foot unforgiving beast of a mountain in the Indian Himalayas. Widely considered the one of the hardest climbs in the world, what these men attempted to do was remarkable in its own right and instructive for all entrepreneurs as it relates to risk.
In business, incremental improvement on an existing standard is often the goal. Yet, breakthrough innovations and substantial growth frequently requires the suspension of the status quo. It’s about embracing the challenge that stands outside of the box. It’s about kicking through the walls of your comfort zone to find that next great something.
The climbing of Shark Fin was considered impossible. In accepting this challenge, this climbing team faced a stunning level of risk. Through the careful assessment and analyzation of possible dangerous outcomes during their trek, they calculated which risks were acceptable and which were not. The plethora of adverse conditions was their own form of marketplace feedback. These conditions helped define their personal risk-reward frontier which very possibly saved their lives.
When selecting the Shark’s Fin as their chosen route, the team accepted failure as the likely outcome of their first ascent. In fact, they underestimated the challenge and had to turn back in order to survive. They regrouped in 2011 and, drawing upon their battle-tested resiliency and knowledge, returned to Shark’s Fin. This time they made it to the summit. As entrepreneurs, risk assessment and goal setting are encoded in our DNA. As these climbers demonstrate, achieving greatness is rarely a simple process. Learning, risk-based adjustments and the acceptance of failure are precursors to any venture’s success.