The 20-Mile March: Are You Amundsen or Scott?
I had planned for my first three-hour bike ride of the year on Sunday morning. When Sunday arrived, not only was it raining, but my friend who was supposed to go with me called to say he couldn’t make it. I had a choice: stay home, warm and dry, or head out into the rain. I decided to go: I had to fulfill my day’s work on my 20-mile march.
Last year, I heard Jim Collins, author of Good to Great (among other iconic business leadership books), speak. While there are a lot of great takeaways from his speech, I want to focus on his concept of the 20-mile march. Anyone who wants to achieve great and consistent long-term results has to practice this concept, but the good news is that anyone can do it.
The 20-Mile March
In his book Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck–Why Some Thrive Despite Them All, Collins shares what two teams did on their journey to the South Pole in 1911. The members of one team died. The other team made it out. By almost all measures, the teams were evenly matched, with the same equipment, skills and experiences. So what made the difference between success and failure?
One team’s strategy was to complete a 20-mile march daily, no matter what. In any weather and under any circumstances, the team marched 20 miles. The members of the other team used a strategy where they took advantage of good weather to march 40 to 60 miles. When the weather was bad, they used that to their advantage and rested warmly in their tents.
So which strategy was successful? Roald Amundsen’s team marched 20 miles a day, no matter what, and the team got to the South Pole first, most importantly living to tell the tale. The members of the other team, led by Robert Falcon Scott, were found dead the next spring.
10X Leadership
Collins calls Amundsen a “10X” leader. 10X leaders, he says, are not more creative, visionary, charismatic, ambitious, blessed by luck, risk seeking, heroic and prone to making big, bold moves. Instead, 10Xers embrace a paradox of control and non-control, which they bring to life via four core behaviors: fanatic discipline, empirical creativity, productive paranoia and Level 5 ambition. These behavior traits, Collins says, correlate with achieving 10X results in chaotic and uncertain environments.
According to Collins, fanatic discipline keeps 10X enterprises on track, empirical creativity keeps them vibrant, productive paranoia keeps them alive and Level 5 ambition provides inspired motivation.
Defining 10X
What do these terms actually mean, and how can someone live these concepts? Below is how Collins defines the terms.
Fanatic discipline: 10Xers display extreme consistency of action, so that every action is consistent with their values, goals, performance standards and methods. They are utterly relentless, monomaniacal and unbending in their focus on their quests.
Empirical creativity: When faced with uncertainty, 10Xers do not look primarily to other people, conventional wisdom, authority figures or peers for direction; instead, they look primarily to empirical evidence. They rely upon direct observation, practical experimentation and direct engagement with tangible evidence. They make their bold, creative moves from sound empirical evidence.
Productive paranoia: 10Xers maintain hyper vigilance, staying highly attuned to threats and changes in their environment, even when all is going well. They assume conditions will turn against them, at perhaps the worst possible moment. They channel their fear and worry into action, preparing, developing contingency plans, building buffers and maintaining large margins of safety.
Level 5 ambition: Underlying these three core behaviors of 10Xers is a motivating force: passion and ambition for a cause or company larger than themselves. They have egos, but their egos are channeled into their companies and their purposes (finding that purpose is the core underpinning of the Unstoppable Course), not personal aggrandizement.
Other key and unexpected findings by Collins:
- Fanatic discipline is not the same as regimentation, measurement, obedience to authority, adherence to social stricture or compliance with bureaucratic rules. True discipline requires mental independence and an ability to remain consistent in the face of herd instinct and social pressures. Fanatic discipline often means being a nonconformist.
- Empirical creativity gives 10Xers a level of confidence that, to outsiders, can look like foolhardy boldness; however, empirical validation allows them to simultaneously make bold moves and manage their risk. Being empirical does not mean being indecisive. 10Xers don’t favor analysis over action; they favor empiricism as the foundation for decisive action.
- Productive paranoia enables creative action. By presuming worst-case scenarios and preparing for them, 10Xers minimize the chances that a disruptive event or huge piece of bad luck will stop them from their creative work.
So in the few seconds that I paused Sunday morning before deciding to get on my bike in the pouring cold rain, I thought about Amundsen and the 20-mile march. I knew instantly that if I wanted to achieve my goals in a few weeks at the half Ironman triathlon, I had to go. I then focused on preparations for a very different type of bike ride than I was expecting, and despite water-logged shoes and numb toes and fingers, I truly enjoyed being out there. I knew it was part of my 20-mile march, and I prepared for all aspects of the ride, including wearing the right clothes, bringing the fuel, taking precautions on the slippery roads, and most importantly, preparing mentally for what was going to be an uncomfortable ride.
I wonder whether Learning House has its own 20-mile march or even more specifically whether departments and individuals do. I think this is an area we can all work on now that we have a great framework for our purpose and values developed in the Learning House Way.
