Archive for the ‘STN Book’ Category

Welcome to SeekingTrueNorth.com! Here you will find information about our book, the authors, and an interactive forum discussion about Seeking True North. Of course, if you came to buy the book, you can go directly here.

SeekingTrueNorth.com is the blog of authors Tim Walther and Erick Erickson. You can search the blog entries by category at the bottom of the left-hand Sidebar to find out more about the book, the ongoing adventures of Tim and Erick, and their businesses Grand Dynamics and Erickson International. We also highly encourage you to visit our forum where you can read and add commentary about Seeking True North and the application of all the models, methods and tools! Please subscribe to the RSS feed for future updates.

Tim Walther and Erick Erickson

Wolf’s Head is one of the 50 classic climbs and has an ethereal and surreal feel to it.  It was great to be back in the mountains again and feel the pulse of the universe. Wolf’s head is the mountain in the central - back of the photo, with Pingora on the right. Amazing ridgeline traverse winding between towers.

This was the start of my climb this weekend. Well, the technical start anyway.   I took Alex Boehm and JP Huser on the climb and it was a big route for both of them. For JP - it was his first big alpine route. They both did great!  It was a bit spicy because there was snow and ice on the north sides of the route.  Those moments of self doubt - the fear that creeps up - those moments that tell you to STEP UP - are those in life to be cherished.  And of course they don’t just happen in the mountains. They happen all the time.  Our ability to harness that energy and overcome our fears every day is part of the Seeking True North journey… and one that is a beautiful part of life. 

Here’s a great fitness test. Take the challenge!

Tests of “motor fitness” developed by T.K. Cureton and reported in a Physical Fitness Workbook, copyright 1947. All tests are pass/fail. Percentages reported in parenthesis represent failure rates.

Balance

Stand with feet about 6″ apart, arms clasped behind the back. Kneel slowly, touch both knees and get up without losing your balance at any time. Feet must remain in place and arms kept behind the back. (2.8%)

Stand on toes with heels together; hold both hands horizontally forward and together as if about to dive. Hold for 20 seconds without shifting feet or hands. (3.5%)

With hands free to aid, stand flat on one foot for ten seconds, then rise up on toes and hold for ten seconds. Weighted foot must not shift. (9.8%)

Squat with arms between knees with hands on floor in front of the knees. Rock forward to balance on the hands and maintain that balanced position for ten seconds. (52%)

Do a hand stand for ten seconds. Hand walking is allowed. (95%)

Flexibility

Lying prone on the floor with fingers laced behind the neck. Partner holds down feet and hips. Attempt to raise chin 20″ off the floor. (3%)

From a standing position (with feet 12″ apart), bend forward from the waist and touch the floor with finger tips, keeping legs absolutely straight throughout. Maintain position for ten seconds. (11.5%)

Sit on the floor, legs straight with heels 18″ apart, fingers laced behind neck. Bend trunk forward until forehead is 8″ from the floor. Maintain 2 seconds. (18.4%)

Lying prone on floor with arms extended straight overhead and with fists clenched, raise fists 8″ off the floor, keeping chin to the floor. Maintain 2 seconds. (24.7%)

Agility

From kneeling position, swing arms, jump to feet and maintain balance, (do not shift feet after landing.) (13.2%)

Hold toe or tip of shoe and jump through the loop formed without releasing toe or shoe. (39.1%)

Facing a stout bar, hold with two hands and vault over the bar without touching the bar with any part of the body. Horizontal bar is positioned at 4′ 6″. Bar must be cleared in a continuous move. (54%)

Strength

Lie supine on floor, hands on thighs, and push up to a head bridge. Hold head bridge for 60 seconds. (3.5%)

Grasp the high bar, draw legs up into a tuck then go through the arms and back to start; as in “skin the cat.” (70.7%)

Lying prone on floor with arms extended straight upward from shoulders, palms on the floor, press body (torso) up, lifting stomach 4″ off the floor. Elbows or forearms may not touch the floor. (78.2%)

Power

Standing broad jump your own height plus one foot.. (37.3%)

Medicine Ball put. With one arm, put a 6-7 pound medicine ball 35′. (43.2%)

Climb a 20″ rope using hands and feet in less than 20 seconds. (56.9%)

Vertical jump 19″ using the reach and touch technique. (61.5%)

Endurance

Lying supine on floor or mat with fingers laced behind neck. Alternate lifting legs straight over head and doing a sit up; 20 leg raises, 20 sit ups with no rest between. (21.8%)

Sitting on floor with hands on hips, hold legs rigidly straight off the floor no more than 20″ high. Maintain position for 60 seconds. (32.2%)

Perform ten chin ups (palms toward the performer). (46%)

Run a mile in seven minutes (67.8%)

Run in place for 120 seconds at 180 steps per minute, then take one deep breath and hold        that breath for 30 seconds. (94.1%)

Remember, these were physically fit people who were taking these tests back in 1947. I have a feeling the general population today is no where near as fit as they were back then. Thanks to Karl Rohnke for sharing this with me.

Tim

Over the years I have spent a great deal of time reviewing various periodicals, magazines, publications, etc. and it’s my perspective that the Harvard Business Review is consistently the best business publication going. In the July-August edition - 2008 the central theme is Honing Your Competitive Edge. In one article, The Competitive Imperative of Learning, Amy Edmonson addresses the central managerial challenge of inspiring and enabling knowledge workers to solve, every day, problems that cannot be anticipated. The central theme is that competition in a knowledge economy requires that companies view execution as not an efficient way to get things done, but as an effective way to LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE. (Reference Mastery Mountain - STN Tool # 1) What I found interesting is how she addresses the ever-present business focus on execution. Consider GM - the largest and most profitable company in the world in the early 1970’s - whose success focused on centralized control and high-volume execution - a firm that posted a loss of 38.7 BILLION in 2007. The challenge with a focus on relentless execution is that several key drivers to employee and organizational performance are lost.  So what’s wrong with Execution? Ms. Edmonson summarizes this concept by saying “A focus on getting things done, and done right, crowds out the experimentation and reflection vital to sustainable success.” Predictable, self-sabotaging traps include critical information and ideas failing to rise to the top, people not having enough time to learn and unhealthy internal competition, and companies thinking they can do no wrong. In addressing one key factor for success, a model for accountability for meeting demanding goals balanced with psychological safety is provided.  This model is VERY similar to our ZONING IN MODEL (STN Tool # 41) and emphasizes the LEARNING ZONE where the focus is on collaboration and learning in the service of high-performance outcomes.  

There are several other articles which make this edition of HBR a great one. The Uncompromising Leader which focuses on the balance of performance and people which highlights building TRUST(STN Building Trust Tool # 92), increasing ENGAGEMENT and maintaining focus and consistency of PURPOSE (STN Why Tool # 11). 

Reaching your Potential, by Kaplan, talks about finding fulfillment through taking a hard look at how you define success(Climbing Myself Mountain STN Tool # 96), knowing your strengths and weaknesses, your passions and identifying the tasks you excel at which are critical to the success of your job. Can you identify these?

Almost all of these articles relate to SEEKING TRUE NORTH and our model of Prepare, Practice and Passion. It’s great to see that the Harvard Business Review complements our perspective so well….

Tim Walther

( Tool # 21 in Seeking True North, the book)

Our friend Dr. Charlie “Tremendous” Jones tells us that his best mentors have been people he has read about in books. Do your homework and choose a few books to study as well as a few people to hang out with (and give to). Then learn from those mentors. Continue the lifelong process of choosing the particular character traits you want to learn from people, books, films, and other sources.

We are who we decide to be. I strongly encourage all of us to surround ourselves with people that have the knowledge, abilities, talents, and gifts to push us ever forward toward who we sense we must be.

If someone asked you, “What is the most recent book you read that influenced you in a positive way?” You should be able to answer that question immediately.  

-Here I am with two of my mentors Dr. Charlie “Tremendous” Jones and Ken Blanchard. 

Long before I met them in person they were my mentors through their books.  

Erick Erickson-

Many of us have heard the word “Zen.”  It’s one of my favorites.  I liken the state to what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi refers to as “Flow” and what Eckhart Tolle refers to as consciousness.  It’s a state of mind or being that I often refer to as ”The Zone.” Recently I was reading A New Earth, and I was reminded of a great story about a Zen Master that I think you will enjoy…

A Zen Master was walking in silence with one of his disciples along a mountain trail. The disciple, a young monk, had been thinking a lot about the state of Zen, and wondering just how to achieve this state of being. After hiking through the mountains for some time, the two stopped for a break and rested in silence along side a large boulder. The disciple broke the silence and asked, ”Master, how do I enter Zen?”  The Master remained silent.  After several minutes, the disciple began to feel uncomfortable, wondering if his Master would ever reveal the secret.  Just as he was about to ask another question, the Zen Master spoke.  “Do you hear the sound of the mountain stream?”   

The disciple has not been aware of any mountain stream. He had been too busy thinking about ZEN and how to achieve such a state. Now, as he began to listen for the sound, his noisy thoughts subsided. At first he heard nothing. Then, his thinking gave way to a heightened alertness, and suddenly he did hear the hardly perceptible murmur of a small stream in the far distance.

“Yes, I can hear it now,” he said.

The Master raised his finger, and with a sage-like look in his eyes that was both fierce and gentle, he said, “Enter Zen from there.”

The disciple was stunned. It was his first satori - a flash of enlightenment. He knew what Zen was without knowing what it was that he knew!

They continued on their journey in silence. The disciple was amazed as the aliveness of the world around him. He experienced everything for the first time. Gradually, however, he started thinking again. The alert stillness became covered up again by mental noise, and before long he had another question.  “Master,” he said, “I have been thinking. What would you have said if I hadn’t been able to hear the mountain stream?”  The Master stopped, looked at him, raised his finger and said, “Enter Zen from there.”

- Tim Walther

Have you ever tasted destiny? Well I have - and it came in the form of this bottle of sweet Argentine wine!   On a climbing trip to Argentina over 2 years ago I met up with Paul Dickey in Mendoza and we went to the oldest winery in Argentina - where I picked out a special Malbec.  Paul travelled home with it and shipped it to me(Thanks Paul!), where it has waited on my cabinet for 2 years - to be corked upon completion of Seeking True North. Rick and I have talked about this day for a long time. Celebration is beautiful.

This bottle of wine was undoubtedly the sweetest thing I have ever tasted! 

Awesome!

Writing Books is serious business!

Tim Walther and Erick Erickson