Every leader needs to identify specifically what resources are required to succeed. Yet too often in business I hear leaders talk in generalizations like, ‘we just don’t have the resources’ or, conversely, ‘we need to do more with less.’ As if all resources were equally important.
There is much we can learn from mountain guides who are expert at managing resources. Why? Because in the mountains, resources could be a matter of not just summiting, but life or death.
For some things, you need to invest in high-end resources. You don’t try to save a few bucks by climbing Mt. Everest in flip-flops. You have $500+ climbing boots.
For some things, you only need what’s adequate. Food that meets nutritional, size and weight requirements. It doesn’t have to taste great.
And many things, you simply don’t need. Razor ans shave cream? Forget it. Pillow? No way.
What skilled mountain guides do exceptionally well is discriminate among the resources that must be high-end, the resources that can be merely adequate, and the resources that are excessive and will only weigh you down.
Application: Be discerning. Make sure your people have the right resources … and not one thing more.
Your thoughts?
Michael
