Yaks Are Better at High Altitude

One of the fascinating things to consider when trekking in Nepal is that nearly everything on the mountain was brought up there by porters or pack animals. It is incredible to think of how many provisions are needed along the 45-mile trek from Lukla to Everest Base Camp for 50,000 trekkers per season and all of the support people. Millions of pounds of supplies are carried up and down the mountain each spring and again each fall.

Every hour of every day you can see hundreds of human porters, mules, and yaks carrying goods up and down the trails. But the higher you get the more you see the yaks taking the largest loads. Why are the yaks more suitable than the mules at high altitudes?

The article Adaptation Mechanisms of Yak (Bos grunniens) to High-Altitude Environmental Stress, on the National Center for Biotechnology Information website says:

“Besides their economic significance, yaks harbor special morphological, physiological, biochemical, and genetic adaptations for tolerance to high-altitude stress. Morphologically, yaks have large hearts and lungs, compact bodies, thick outer hair covering, and nonfunctional sweat glands, which help to withstand hypoxia and cold stress... Furthermore, the yak has undergone long-term natural selection and developed a unique genetic architecture that favors survival in hostile environments.”

In simple terms, yaks are made for high-altitude living and working. Where other pack animals simply cannot perform, yaks thrive all the way to 17,600 feet and higher. It is incredible to watch these gentle giants work in the extremities of the Himalayas.

As I watched them drive up the trail, one foot in front of the other, for hours on end, I pondered what makes yaks better at the job. Sure, they have some biological advantages, but I imagined that yaks also seem to have the attribute of Grit.?

Studied by psychologists and brought to the mainstream in her book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Angela Duckworth defines Grit as the combination of passion and perseverance to achieve long-term goals. She also says the greatest predictor of success is grit. Think about that: it isn’t talent, passion, or opportunity alone that predicts success. It is our ability to be gritty when the trail gets really hard. Duckworth says:

“...there are no shortcuts to excellence. Developing real expertise, figuring out really hard problems, it all takes time―longer than most people imagine....you've got to apply those skills and produce goods or services that are valuable to people....Grit is about working on something you care about so much that you're willing to stay loyal to it...it's doing what you love, but not just falling in love―staying in love.”

And “as much as talent counts, effort counts twice.”

I know yaks don’t really have grit; they just do what yaks do. But I can’t help thinking they are an example of being built for a job and then putting in an extraordinary effort. Talent plus effort will beat talent every single time.

When hiring for tough jobs, particularly in a start-up environment, you need to find the gritty yaks who can carry unbelievable burdens day after day and gently move those burdens steadily up the mountain of success. Gritty people create gritty cultures, and gritty cultures in business are more likely to survive no matter what happens.

Who are the gritty yaks in your organization? Which employees embody the idea that effort counts twice as much as talent?

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