Why did Amundsen make it to the South Pole and back in 1911, while Scott died trying? The answer, say the authors of Great by Choice, reveals why some companies thrive in hard times. Another potential Jim Collins classic.
In 1911, two teams of explorers set out to be the first to reach the South Pole: an English team led by Robert Falcon Scott and a Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen. It was a race, in unpredictable conditions. The conditions were summed up in an advertisement that Scott had put in the London papers: “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success.”
In the course of their epic race, the two teams apparently displayed significantly different behaviour patterns. While Scott used new-fangled motorised vehicles, hitherto untested in those sub-zero conditions (and which finally failed him), Amundsen used tried-and-tested dog sleds, which he had learned about from Eskimo tribes he had consulted. While Scott placed flags on his supply dumps to help locate them on the way back, Amundsen placed markers 10 miles around his dumps in every direction, for greater visibility. While Scott carried one thermometer (which broke at a critical moment, with disastrous consequences), Amundsen carried four backups. While Scott’s team marched long distances in fair weather, but took shelter in their tents in bad weather, Amundsen’s team made a strict discipline of marching 20 miles — no less, no more — every single day. The difference in these behaviour patterns led to dramatically different outcomes: Amundsen beat Scott to the South Pole by more than a month and returned home safely with his men to a hero’s welcome. Scott not only lost the race, but perished tragically with his team, just 11 miles from his extraction point.
Business Standard
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