“Be determined in the face of complexity”
What a 19th Century Explorer taught a Digital Agency
Part Three
written by nansen.com
Fridtjof Nansen is the Norwegian explorer and humanitarian that inspired our name. But for us, it’s more than just a name.
Every day this week, we’re highlighting one thing we learnt about his life that we’ve applied to our business. These are the things that make Nansen special.
“Be determined in the face of complexity”
“Never stop because you are afraid ― you are never so likely to be wrong.”
― Fridtjof Nansen
As a humanitarian, Nansen was often faced with seemingly impossible challenges, from saving 450,000 prisoners of war spread across the globe, to finding a home for stateless Armenian refugees.
The problems that he faced were often so complex that at times they will have seemed unachievable. These were world crises that nobody knew the answer to, and many doubted that anyone, let alone Nansen, could help. The 450,000 prisoners of war misplaced around the world was generally viewed as a hopeless situation that would be easier to accept as a tragedy rather than attempt to solve.
Regardless of this negativity, Mr. Nansen became more determined, utilizing his skills in logistical planning and analysing every detail of the process. Nansen negotiated and mediated with political leaders, and arranged practicalities such as transport. He applied the same key principles to crossing Greenland as he did to helping the entire Armenian population.
In his quest to accomplish a seemingly impossible task, he planned and implemented all aspects of a global rescue operation for almost half a million prisoners of war over the course of 18 months. It was not only a success, but due to his meticulous planning, it was well under budget.
Nansen reminds us that no task is too ambitious if approached in the right way.
He gives us perspective on the problems that we set out to solve and inspires us to be determined in finding innovative solutions, and be confident in the face of possible failure. Nansen often referred to fear as human’s biggest enemy. We are determined in the face of it.
