In preparation for submitting the book (Bootstrapped: A No Bull Solution For Business Success) to our publisher, I have been calling all of the individuals I have quoted or told stories about. Today I was able to have a great discussion with Ed Viesturs. One of the chapters in the book is titled Climb High Sleep Low. In this chapter I contrast parallels between mountain climbing and what it takes to succeed in starting a business. (See excerpt from the actual chapter of what I said about Ed in this chapter.)
As we were comparing notes, Ed made a statement relating to mountain climbing that I had to write down and share. He used the term The Currency of Toil. If that does not describe the GRIT or tenacity to succeed in a start up business I do not know what does. I love that phrase Currency of Toil.
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Ed Viesturs, one of my personal heroes, was the first American to climb all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter summits. He accomplished this remarkable success without the use of supplemental oxygen. Only those who have confronted high altitudes understand the super-human ability required to accomplish this task.
I identify with Ed for two primary reasons:
1) His work ethic and attitude on the mountain.
Countless times he sacrificed his own summit bid in order to rescue others. How Ed climbs the mountain is as important to him as climbing it. Ed was a member of the IMAX team and one of the major heroes in the rescue attempt that occurred in the infamous 1996 Everest disaster.
2) His climbing philosophy.
When Ed is acclimatized and the conditions are right, he goes for it. When the conditions are not right or he considers the venture an unacceptable risk, he has the courage to back off and go back to the tent. Sometimes this frustrates others around him, but he does not let peer pressure push him to climb a mountain when it does not feel right.
In an article about his third attempt to summit Annapurna, Veisters said:
Veikka and I will approach this attempt the same way we have all our other climbs. I’m quite prepared to just turn around and come home if conditions are as dicey as they were on previous attempts. I admit to being pretty motivated to reach my goal of climbing all 14 peaks, but I’m not going to take unreasonable risks to do so. No mountain, no summit, is worth dying for. I do this for fun, not because I have to. I do this for me, and I do it my way.
Now, you have to keep in mind that Ed had already attempted this climb twice, and backed off both times. This was the last 8,000-meter peak he had left to conquer before attaining his goal of summiting all 14 peaks. Annapurna is arguably the most dangerous and most difficult of all of the 8,000 meter peaks, with the possible exception of K2. He had already tried and backed off twice. Ed’s team chose a route that required them to be above 26,000 feet, the death zone, for an extended period of time. However, taking this route allowed them to avoid the huge avalanche-prone faces of the foreboding mountain. Well into their summit bid they came to a corniced face that “just did not feel right.” Ed and Veikka chose to go back down the mountain, but two other climbing partners decided to press forward. In an amazing climb these two reached the summit successfully. Some people watching called Ed and Veikka weak-kneed, and they received an enormous amount of criticism. However, they did not waver and offered no regrets. They had the courage and fortitude to “go to the tent” despite peer pressure, despite it being the final summit, and despite the world watching.
Ed said: “For me and the people I care about, my style of climbing is the right style. Getting to the top is optional, but getting back down is mandatory.” In mountain climbing, it is not enough just to get to the top of the mountain. The goal must be to get to the top and return home safely. In business you must plan for the difficult times. As you reap the rewards of your hard work, build a financial buffer for your future.
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The beginning of this past summer I committed to myself to begin teaching my three oldest sons fundamental business principles. I decided the best way to do this would to actually build a businesses together. Each Saturday and Sunday afternoon my three sons and I would go down in my office and have a “board meeting”.
The first few meetings began as a brainstorm where we would discuss potential businesses. Nothing was off the table. We had some real interesting ideas pop up (particularly from my 11 year old Nathan). After several weeks we narrowed down the business options and informally discussed the pro’s and con’s using the Porter Model. What did we settle on? A website focusing on How To Tie a Tie. Why you ask? Well in our research we discovered that the 4th most searched “How To” phrase on the internet is How to tie a tie. There are over 2,000 searched a day on this term. Once decided we were off and running to the races. It has been a rather slow moving project, but one that has simply been life changing for my boys.
I am thrilled today to announce that last week we formally launched our website www.2tieatie.com. So why was this so important to me? The primary reason I wanted to do this with my sons was to give them a feel early in their life of what it took to create a business. I also wanted them to live the process not just talk about it. I also wanted them to take some ownership in saving and preparing for college in a manner different than just getting a job. Not that I don’t want them to also have a job and work hard, I do. But I want them in the mindset of creating assets rather than working a job. There has been one huge side benefit from this project that I had not pre-mediated. It has been the process of exposing my sons to the global economy. As we were discussing the project last night it was pointed out that:
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The project plan and specification had been put together by us in Utah.
The initial site design was done in Ahmedabad India. With over 10 back and forth iterations of the design.
The witting of the step by step instructions done initially by a writer in Eastern Europe (and failed).
We then engaged a professional witter in the USA that I had previously worked with
The picture diagrams were done by a talented diagrammer in in Pakistan
The Assembly of the Pictures and Steps were then returned to India for build out and engineering
The Quality assurance and debug of the site done by my sons back in Utah
The online store is being done using Amazon.com which is located in New York
The Video diagrams is being outsourced to my oldest sons 17 year old friends Scott and Wyatt
The ties that we will eventually sell on the website will come from Thailand and Korea
We engaged several link building efforts with two different firms, one in Southern India and the other in Romania
We also did a press announcement which was distributed out of Washington State
Wow, that is quite the world tour for a eleven year old. The reality is, we live in a global economy and the only way our children will thrive is to learn to dance in this world. I am so proud of how my sons have interacted and embraced this experience. All said, I think the experience interacting and coordinating the efforts all around the world proved to be of more value than the business experience.
This past week there has been quite the stir in our neighborhood. Through the block we have some neighbors that have a beautiful yard. This yard is meticulously groomed and each fall planters full of Canna lily flowers make a magnificent showing. This yard truly is amazing and there is with out question significant effort that takes place to keep this yard a show piece. this being said, my gardening neighbors really lost sign of reality.
I do not know the specific dog(s) that promoted the infamous “Signs” to be posted, but this past week 3 professionally created signs appeared in the front of their yard. The signs read:
“KEEP DOG(S) OFF GRASS”
“THIS YARD IS NOT A TOILET FOR YOUR DOG(S)”
“KEEP DOG(S) OFF GRASS”
The following day in the neighbors yard directly across the street a poster board sign with lettering in magic marker placed in the gourd with a shovel appeared. Keep in mind that this neighbor does not own a dog. The sign reads:
“DOG’S CAN’T READ”
There are so many management metaphors associated with this little story I don’t even know where begin so in spirit of allowing you to simply have a really good belly laugh like I did, we will simply leave it with this. Next time you feel inclined to do something really absurd in your business, remember
“DOG’S CANT READ!
This past weekend I took my family down to our condo at Elk Meadows in the Tusher mountains. This was a much needed break for our family after experiencing 2 broken arms, removed tonsils, minor skin surgery, new puppies, dad being gone for the entire month of June, and mom ready to trade all of the kids in for life size pictures of the kids, dad, and puppies.
One of my favorite things to do is to take the kids fishing in a little stream that is chuck full of North Eastern Brook Trout. If you know what you are doing you can limit out in about 20 minutes. This is my kind of fishing being as I openly declare myself a “catcherman” not a “fisherman”. I simply don’t have the patience to sit in a boat all day long waiting for a bite. I like to catch, not fish.
These little fish only get about 10 inches long, but they fight like little tigers and are very aggressive. They will almost bite a bare hook. I will frequently use the same night crawler 3 or 4 fish consecutively. When running out of worms, I have used eye balls of other fish and the innards of their buddy fish that I just extracted from the stream above them five minutes ago. The point being is these little critters are not picky eaters. However, what they lack in taste sensitivity they make up for in smarts.
When I first started fishing for these Brooks, I simply could not catch them. I would get tons of nibbles, but simply could not set the hook. In total frustration one day I sat down and analyzed what must be going on. I realized that these fish were not behaving as other fish where you must set the hook as soon as you feel tension on the line. They were putting the worm and hook in the very front of their mouth and as I attempted to set the hook the worm would slip off into their mouth and I would yank the hook right out of their lips.
Through much practice I discovered that in order to catch these fish when I felt a nibble I had to put slight tension on the string, then quickly give it slack, count to 10, and repeat this process three times. With each bit of tension and release the little trout would take more and more of the hook in their mouth until the hook was in their throat not in their lips. At this point I had them and I could simply tug them out of the stream.
As I watched my sons struggle with these little fish I just chuckled. I had told them the process, I had explained what the fish were doing, but they were so eager get the little buggers and the excitement was so high, they just could not bring themselves to set the pole down and count to 10. The result: Dad= 8 kids=0
Needless to say we sat down and had a great teaching moment. Not only in life, but also in business often times we get so eager to jerk that contract out of the water or win the big deal that we lack the patience and forget to let the hook set for the count of 10. Early in my career I can count more than one time a seasoned businessman has given me a tip while I cognitively listened, but fail to internalize. I would then later wake up to find the score: Seasoned Businessman $1MM Rich=$0MM
In business and in entrepreneurship there are times exercise patience, learn to count to 10 and become “Fishermen” not “Catchermen”.
This past week as a family reward I was able to take 3 of my sons and my daughter to see Les Miserable’ for the first time in their life. This is my favorite Broadway play and inevitably moves me to tear up. This showing was no exception.
I was intrigued with the perceptions that my children had of the play. I also took great joy in watching their reaction. The life long balance of mercy vs. justice, and having rules vs. total chaos really struck my children. They were particularly moved in the senseless death of Gavroche the young boy killed at the barricade.
My 14 year old son really made the summary statement as we were driving home that night. In relationship to Javert and his clench on hunting down Jean Valjean, he stated. “Man, I felt like going down on the stage and shaking the guy, he just needed to learn to let it go already.”
So it is. We all have things in our lives that we have to “just let it go already”. Whether a bad relationship, someone who has done us wrong, or just a bad experience. Those that end up most miserable and dismal in life are those who simply don’t let it go.
Today I was able to spend the day with a group of teenagers doing service projects and also participating in what are called Rope Courses. Ropes Courses are designed to test your mental focus and personal fortitude as well as generate team building experiences. One of the obstacles in particularly got both my nerves and brain going. This was called the Vine Walk.
The course involved a thin metal cable stretched between two poles about 20 years apart. The cable was bout 30 feet about the ground and placed up above the cable about 6 feet were several dangling ropes separated along the cable about 10 feet apart. These ropes could be held on to as you walked the quivering metal cable. Now these dangling ropes did not provide much stability, but just enough when pulled taunt that you would not spiral off of the cable.
Of course as you climb up the poles and attempt the traverse, you are on belay and fully harnessed for safety, but it really does cause your nerves to jitter as you attempt to carefully step across this “vine”.
What I discovered as I was doing this, was if I focused on the far end point of the cable, looking across, but not directly down, and deliberately blocking out the height factor, I was able to slither across that cable. When I would turn sideways with my feet and attempt to monitor the cable and its flex directly beneath me the cable would shake almost as vigorously as my nerves were.
As on this rope, so is it when creating a business. You can’ think much about how high you are, you have to trust the harnesses and belay, and focus on the end point placing foot over foot as you go. If you look down and spend too much energy on your exact position on the “cable” you tend to get wobbly and are more likely to fail.
Being an entrepreneur, my nerves were conditioned to the adrenaline rush of the vine walk on the ropes course and it did not paralyze me, as a matter of fact I found it invigorating.
I noted that a few of the young women that were gymnasts crossed the vine with grace. I didn’t! My crossing was plain ugly, but end of the day it does not matter, we both crossed it just the same. Both count and so it is in entrepreneurship. Most do not have the courage to even try. Getting across is the key, not how graceful the walk is.
As a child I grew up in a small town in Southern Utah. I had amazing parents. My father completely lost his sight when he was four years old. Despite being completely blind, he went on to become a successful Attorney. My mother was equally amazing. She was 15 younger than my father. One of their greatest fears was my mother would be widowed for much of her later life. Ironically fate played an awful trick and my mother and she died of breast cancer at the age of 58 leaving my father the one alone.
My mother was one of the strongest people I know. She had the courage and determination to become what I call a trend breaker. Despite all odds and with immense sacrifice she went on to be the first one in her family to graduate from college. She blazed a trail not only for all of her brothers and sisters to follow, but also all of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Growing up in my parents home, B’s were not acceptable. It was never spoken, it was simply understood.
My brothers and I collaborated and determined one of the best ways to honor my mother was to create a scholarship in her name. Our mother was always behind the scenes ensuring others received acknowledgment and award. It was with great joy we brought our mother into the spotlight by awarding scholarships to deserving young women in her name.
Today I drove down to Beaver High School and experienced a rush of emotion as I awarded scholarships to 3 young women whom have the great potential that my mother realized and we believe will be trend breakers in their respective families. These three young ladies are:
1st place - Courtney Ann Rogers
2nd place – Shannon Joseph
3rd place – Whitney Whitbeck
At the request of several of my associates, I post the scholarship information and a bit of my mothers background relating to her intense drive to obtain her education.
Laurel Christiansen was a born in a small town in Sevier County Utah. She was the first in her family to attend college and she did so at great personal sacrifice and with dogged determination. She was a trend setter who broke through many barriers allowing her brothers, sisters and her children to follow. After college she came to Beaver High School to teach Art. She married John Christiansen, the blind County Attorney and had four sons. While her children were young she took a break from teaching and focused on instilling a love of education in her children. She then returned to teach 1st grade at Belknap Elementary. She is fondly remembered by many in Beaver as a “Master 1st grade teacher”.
She raised four boys and twelve foster children. She loved with all of her might and strength her daughter in laws, grandchildren, and masses of elementary school children. Our mother’s impact has always been from the background. She has taken no public spotlight. Her life’s song has been sung in beautiful support by those around her. Through this scholarship we wish to publicly honor the incredible and lasting impact that this amazing woman has made.
Excerpts From My Story’s Song
Applicants, in preparation for this scholarship, please read the following Excerpts from Laurel Christiansen’s Biography titled My Story’s Song. This will give you a better feel for what this scholarship is about and what we are looking for in a successful candidate.
The first year of college at BYU was very challenging and difficult for me. I had earned enough money to pay tuition and start out the year; however, my resources quickly diminished with the many expenses of school. So, during my second quarter at BYU my father helped me pay tuition. Still, paying the cost of living expenses was left up to me. I soon became a familiar face at the BYU employment office. I checked there weekly to find any little “odds-and-ends” jobs to earn money. Dora Young, who shared the bedroom with me, and with whom I had become very close, suggested that I take my money and purchase a sack of whole wheat and some powdered milk. She stated that it would keep me alive and eating. It did! Wheat and powdered milk helped me survive. This first year of college was by far the most difficult and challenging for me. I just about didn’t make it financially, and my grades suffered terribly as well. However, I felt very determined to receive an education and to eventually graduate. The learning process gave me joy and satisfaction, and mattered very much to me.
During my second year my love and appreciation for education deepened, as did my desire to become an art teacher.
By my third year, I was taking many classes in my major. I decided to go into Art Education (Secondary). I took a very heavy schedule, 18-20 credit hours per quarter. Despite the extra load my grades were much better and I felt at peace and happy. After completing two additional quarters I decided to attend the summer block as well. At this time I needed to get a student loan so that I could finish out my last year of schooling. I remember that when I applied, the fellow interviewing me asked me many questions. He told me he would give me the loan, for which I was very grateful. He stated that he did not encounter a girl like me very often. He felt that I was unusual because I was so determined to finish my education. He said I seemed more like a foreign student, and that I had values like an “old-fashioned girl.”
In making the decision to teach, I determined that I wanted to stay and work somewhere in the state of Utah. That was where my family was. I also wanted to teach in a small rural town because I was a farm girl at heart. I was interviewed (grilled, may be more accurate) by both Ogden and Salt Lake City, but my heart was won over during the interview with David Pierce from the Beaver County School District. The position of art teacher at Beaver High School was exactly what I wanted. I accepted Mr. Pearce’s offer immediately.
I remember as I was younger in my career, everything was black and white. My opinions were strong and quickly formed. My views sharp and my perspective decisive. As I have grown older and been exposed to more cultures and experienced the dilemmas and challenges of the world, the once thin line separating black and white has expanded to a much larger thick grey line.
Yesterday I spent some time with a young man for whom I have tremendous respect. This is a young man who is in the early stages of his career, has been bitten really hard by the entrepreneurial bug, and is creating a successful web design company. In so many ways he reminds be of myself 20 years ago. He is intensely passionate, has very strong opinion, and is insanely talented. I have every confidence he will succeed.
The lengthy discussion that I had with him yesterday, related to a moral stand that he was taking relating to what type of web sites he was comfortable designing and his willingness to decline business that did not meet his moral standards. I can not help but respect anyone who is willing to take a stand and draw personal boundaries. In this apathetic world many people have become desensitized and are not willing to step forward and stand up for what they believe to be right.
As we discussed, it became very evident that we have many of the same long term goals and value systems, however on a few points we have dramatically different views.
It caused me to reflect on those simple days and in some ways longingly wish for the ON or OFF perspective that I did when I was just out of college. That being said, I have found that much of the richness of life comes from understanding and learning the perspectives in the thicker grey line. It may be messier, but it is also more rewarding to take the effort to look at the “beast” from a different angle.
We all have different upbringings, perspectives and value systems. In life, there is no simple black and white with a thin line. It is by making the attempt to understand each others perspectives, what motivates each other, and why we view things differently that unlocks the power of great advances. The lamest and most ineffective teams I have managed have been those that were homogeneous where everyone saw things the exact same way and everyone got along. The most powerful teams I have been involved with were compiled of members with extremely diverse backgrounds and differing perspectives YET all focusing on a common goal.
Looking for solutions in The Thick Grey Line requires more focus and effort, but when you find the solutions they not only last longer, but also mean more.
This past month I have been working with Warner Music to analyze a number of their artist’s sites and help them develop a viable search and strategy. Today I began working on the site of Michael Buble. I think I have single handedly loaded the home page more than the rest of the USA combined. Now that is saying something because he was on Oprah today.
How do you know if an musician is really good, well today I discovered the answer. If you actually look forward to the music playing when you start a web page, that is really a good first step. Very seldom do I find the web home page an acceptable location to play an unsolicited song. The second litmus test is if you have head the song 11,452 times in one day and have not went insane, then you might have know that they have a little talent.
As I was driving home tonight, I heard on the radio that Michael Buble was performing in SLC on July the 17th 2007. I have on my task list to order tickets. I am even considering downloading one of the Michael Buble ring tones.
Last week I worked on a site that was heavy metal, and I will put it this way . It was NOT “my mothers type of music”. For that matter, it was not my type of music either! Anyways, at the end of the day I was so stressed out and onery that my family hid under the furniture whenever I entered a room.
Tonight I found myself light, happy and in a great mood. I even went and downloaded 2 of his CD’s onto my Ipod.
I know all the head shrinks have already told us this, but the music we listen to makes a huge difference. You can “Call Me Irresponsible” but I am a new fan of Buble. If you have not heard his music before, it is worth checking out.
This past week I had the opportunity to spend a night with my wife at a condo. This condo is high in the Tusher mountains well over 10,000 ft and there is no television, no internet access, and most notable no cell phone coverage.
I must admit, upon arriving, I felt a bit lost! Without any of these “life necessities” there was no way to manufacture a crisis’s or stir up a distraction. I felt totally disconnected and out of touch.
As the night settled, I found myself talking with my wife, really talking. I found my nerves settling, and my spirit calmed. The following morning as I woke, several key issues that I had been wrestling with had a new and sharp level of clarity. It was not until the next day that I actually realized how tense and tight I had been and what it felt like to be calm and relaxed. As I descended the mountain, I dreaded hitting the on button on the cell phone and “returning to reality”.
We live in such a fast paced interrupt driven world that often times we assume that the never ending cell phone calls and text messages are reality. The truth is, they are not. Although these are nice conveniences, they are often distractions and cripple us from focusing on the really important things in our lives.
After this experience, I realized how important it is that we take time away and consciously shut off the cell phones, turn off the TV, and deliberately communicate with our loved ones. I contend that doing this will not only make us happier, but also more effective and efficient.
Where did Christ go just before he began his ministry? (Matthew 4:2 JST) Where did he go with Peter, James and John upon transfiguration? (Mark 9:2) Where did he go to gain strength just before the Garden of Gethsemane and eventually his crucifixion? (Luke 22:39)
Isn’t it interesting that before each major event in Christ’s life he gained strength by retreating to the wilderness or to a mountain?
I challenge each of us (particularly myself), to daily find time to “Go To The Mount” where we can break through all of the noise and clutter that we seem to engulf ourselves in. Let us each find our own wilderness, in times of trial where we can gather strength. As we do so, we will be calmer, and find more purpose in our lives.
