When it's good to have your head in the clouds

Eight years ago today I had the opportunity to climb to the top of Mt. Fuji in Japan with a friend. Mount Fuji, or Fuji-san to locals in Japan, stands 3,776 meters high and is one of the most iconic mountains in the world. Fuji-san is only accessible for approximately 8 weeks during the year in July and August, but despite this, attracts some 200-300,000 visitors per year (mostly Japanese). On this anniversary of my climb, I was reminded of a few lessons that I continue to reflect upon in the day-to-day happenings of leading large-scale M&A transactions and transformations, which are large mountains in their own right:

1.      Importance of planning ahead: Pre-departure planning is key for a successful Fuji climb. There are 2-3 different paths up to the top and rest stations with limited bunking options strategically located up the mountain. Timing your trip to coincide with the different climates and temperatures on the way up is critical.   You also need the right back-pack, clothing, walking stick and hiking shoes to reduce the risk of getting injured. Even some of the more mundane planning matters: I made the mistake of thinking I could hike in running shoes, and once I realized my error, I had just a few hours to find hiking boots. It turns out shopping for US size 11 shoes in Tokyo is like finding a needle in a haystack. (Japanese have small feet). Finding the time to prepare, plan and map out a journey before departing may not be the most fun part of the trip, but it will pay dividends later on, even if you find yourself deviating from those plans.

2.      Picking the right partner: 2010 wasn’t the first time I was asked to join a group of Tokyo expats over the summer to climb Fuji. But it was the first (and only) time I said yes.  The reason: I knew that Skip, the friend I would be climbing with, would be a great partner for me and we would complement each other’s personalities, risk tolerance and decisiveness. Finding the right partner in any journey is one of the critical success factors as trying to take on a mountain of any scale on ones’ own is often a fool’s errand.

3.      The mental challenge is typically greater than the physical one. Climbing Fuji is not technically difficult. Yes, it requires hiking in the middle of the night with a headlamp and navigating some steep hills, changes in temperature and a lack of oxygen at the top, but it is nothing like some of the more ambitious mountains that require true training and skill. After all, along the Fuji trail you will find climbers ages 9-99. And even some younger ones. (A kindergarten in Kanagawa Prefecture has, for 25 years, taken its class of graduating 5-6 year olds on the climb). That said, the climb can be mentally daunting. First, because the trails are very crowded and you need to walk single-file in many places. Second, because you are constantly reminded that if you slip and twist an ankle or break a wrist, there is no place to land a helicopter to get you off the mountain. Third, because the air is very thin and you find yourself short of breath every few hundred feet. And fourth, because the downhill climb lasts forever and is very hard on the knees and toe-nails. The key success factor therefore is to allow yourself to take a step back and enjoy the journey and those along with you, and let the rest take care of itself.

4.      Benefit of measuring progress in milestones: One of the most unique—and rewarding—aspects of climbing Fuji are the “branding stations” every few hundred meters where climbers can pay local artisans 200 JPY ($2 USD) to brand the current elevation on the wooden walking sticks that many people carry. While it may sound trivial, marking progress at these intervals helps provide the motivation to keep going and serves as an unmistakable milestone of your progress. It’s a technique we use all the time in the transaction world to measure and celebrate the achievement of milestones and keep teams motivated to keep going. At the very top of the mountain, there are a number of small Udon (noodle) shops serving what many people say is the best Udon in Japan. Of course, it's not, but it certainly tastes that way, and this little motivational factor is almost enough to keep you going in those final hundred meters of the climb.

5.      Sometimes the more difficult and risky challenge is on the way down, not the way up: Most people who have climbed Fuji will tell you that the way down is a lot more challenging than the way up. You are tired, the hills are dusty and steep, and the turns seem endless. Your toes are jammed against your boots and your knees are ready to give out from under you.  But you’ve made it this far and the worst thing you can do is give up. We often see a similar phenomenon in the world of transactions. Call it the “last mile” problem. Teams have done the heavy-lifting, made the tough decisions and what’s left is primarily execution. It’s easy at this stage to try to cut corners and lose focus. But the consequences are akin to a broken ankle in the final hours of a two day climb to the summit of one of the world’s great wonders.