Lessons for startups from the Movie “Everest” (2015)
The movie Everest was one of the most anticipated movies to come out during 2015 fall. The movie is based on a true story where two teams lost 5 mountain climbers lives while climbing Mount Everest in 1996. Everest is the tallest peak in the world and climbing it needs courage, strength, team work and a lot of energy both physical and mental.
The movie delivers us a lot of lessons which could be really useful for our lives and businesses. However this article highlights the lessons from the movie relevant to a startup.
Lesson 1
Even experienced professionals fail – Rob hall being the leader for the teams, guide one of the unfortunate climbers who had to sacrifice his life when he tried to save others. He saves another but he lost his life. When a startup organisation operating in the global market it is considered that they have to recruit best in the industry for its growth. They invest a lot on them and sometimes they could fail as well. The lesson here is that organisations needs to take things slow because experienced professionals in an organisation does not always guarantee your success.
Lesson 2
Always obey the rules and follow instructions – These are there for obvious reasons and disregarding them could end up in a disaster. One of the climbers requests to climb to the summit even after an hour later claiming that he would not able to do it again. And he let that guy climb which cost both their lives. It is not a bad thing to have empathy but always has to obey the rules. Not sticking to it could take the organisation to a really bad position which would be really hard to build back.
Lesson 3
Wait for the right time! Giving up for temporary doesn’t mean giving up forever – Sometime you have to give up on something for several reasons. This does not necessarily mean that you have to give up forever. When the weather conditions were turning bad the teams should have turned back and wait till the right time.
Going against external conditions where you don’t have control over may cause you bigger troubles and you will never get a chance again. It is okay to wait till the right chance comes your way to leverage on something. It may take time but it would surely deliver your start up better results than you would have before when the external conditions were unfavorable.
Lesson 4
Risks are inevitable – Climbing Everest is every mountain climbers dream. Many lose their live climbing Everest every year. But there is no glory than reaching the peak of Everest. Same applies to startup; there will be many struggles when you try to achieve that glory but once you know what you are up to you have to calculate and accept the risks.
Lesson 5
Team work is everything – Team work is utmost important, when climbing the Mount Everest. Oxygen tanks and rope were expected to be delivered when the teams were arrived for the climb but it was not delivered as expected when the teams arrived. You have to be very careful when choosing whose going to be in your team. You have to have the trust on them and vise-versa. This will definitely get you where you want to be in the future. And this can be considered as the most important aspect for any organisation in the world despite the size of it.
