All Posts Tagged With: "courage"

Back in 1987 I got my first operations management job out on the west coast - my boss was a wealthy entrepreneur who’s glass was perpetually not just full, but overflowing.

He could be quite demanding, but what he did for me was priceless - he taught me the “art of the possible”. There was a framed sign on his wall that he loved to point out to us, that simply said - “it can’t be done, it can’t be done, it can’t be done……..it’s done“.

The word “can’t” was simply drummed out of me. Over time I’ve tempered this into an overall philosophy of “Half-Fullism” - always trying to put a “can do” spin on the literal world.

Which brings me to the news of the death of famed Mt. Everest climber Sir Edmund Hillary. Mighty Mt. Everest rises over 29,000 feet into the atmosphere, and until Hillary reached the summit with Tenzing Norgay in 1953, the prospect of literally standing “on top of the world” was pretty much thought of as a “can’t do”.

Many had tried before and failed- most notably back in 1924 when George Leigh Mallory famously provided his reason for attempting the climb - “because it is there!” and proceeded to perish in his quest for the summit.

The conditions are brutal - the peak is near cruising altitude for commercial airlines. But yet Sir Edmund methodically, coolly, and with great determination, got there. He didn’t believe it couldn’t be done. Better still, he had a great sense of perspective on the whole thing - his modesty was endearing, writing his mother after the ascent:

“Well, I may not have produced much joy or happiness in the world but at least I’ve helped make the Hillary name a bit more famous.”

Sir Edmund Hillary set a standard of “pioneership” that sparkles to this day, even though the climbs of Everest have now been rendered nearly commonplace (but still dangerous). Somebody had to do it first and wipe out the “it can’t be done” forever, and it was this man. He had the courage to dream of the “art of the possible“.

What a lofty standard to look up to, quite literally.

Godspeed Sir Edmund, and thank you.