Book Notes

In June 2017, Alex Honnold did something which no man had done before. He climbed El Capitan in Yosemite without any ropes. This free solo ascent of the 3000 ft rock formation without any fallback mechanism ranks as one of the greatest athletic feats ever. Equally interesting is the way Alex Honnold trained. He did 60 practice climbs on El Capitan. First, he rehearsed these climbs using rope. He memorized complex portions of the climb. He specifically trained on the tricky portions of the segments by going up there and with gear and practicing over and over. In the final weeks before the climb, he practiced on a smooth stretch of rock, climbing with only his feet and not using his hands. Thus what looked like a miracle was the result of a well-planned training. ...

In the book, High output management, Andy Grove, Intel co-founder, makes a significant observation regarding meetings. Let me frame it in the context of something that we encounter regularly in planning meetings. There are two projects, both of which can bring in revenue and a decision has to be made. To pick an example from the book, we could build a manufacturing plant next to an existing one build another larger one far away. What do we do? ...