Things I learned from hiking — part 2
# Acclimatization
If you have ever traveled to high altitude region, you’d understand the concept of acclimatizing. In short, the higher we climb, the lesser oxygen available for us to consume. Our body needs time to adapt to the thinner air. Each body adjusts differently, so it’s crucial to figure out your limit and give yourself ample time to acclimatize. I have done a couple of hikes that have an average altitude higher than 14000ft. It took a couple of try-fail-adjust to figure out my range of limit. I learned 2300m increase a day is out of my limit through hiking Iztaccihuatl trail. I learned from hiking in Daocheng, I can comfortably climbing 800m each day. Over time I became more knowledgable about my physical limitation. This knowledge became my guideline for later planning.
I started to draw interesting analogies from high altitude acclimatization to our work life. For example, the process of figure out one’s speed to acclimatize is very similar to the process a software development team takes to figure out its velocity. The better I understand my physical limit, the better I can plan for future trips. The better a team understands its velocity, the better it can plan for future projects. Like how I figured out my speed to acclimatize, a team would need to take many iterations of try-fail-adjust to understand its velocity. These iterations are also important training processes. It not only tests your velocity but also builds it. Before planning for longer, more challenging trails, you need to build your stamina to allow a larger margin for error. Before it can be trusted with larger, riskier projects, a team needs to build consistency in delivering velocity.
Thinking from a different angle, the journey of acclimating to higher altitude is similar to adjusting to the increasing responsibilities and higher expectation in your career. For hiking, the higher you climb, the heavier your backpack makes you feel. For your career, the higher you climb, the heavier your responsibilities make you feel. Just like the thinner air keeps testing my physical limits, the increasing level of stress keeps testing my mental limits. So maybe I can apply the same lessons learned from hiking to my career: Keep improving my knowledge about myself, set the right expectations, and give myself enough time to acclimatize.
