In this course, we are placed on a team that we will experience the entirety of the course with. In our first meeting, we are tasked with completing our first few stages of a simulated climb of Mt. Everest. It is a unique and challenging experience to meet virtually with a group of people you have never met previously and then step right into a very challenging simulation that requires difficult decisions. We had to create decision making processes and determine group roles without having a lot of relational experience with others. This challenge forced me to assess how I was making decisions and the criteria I was using in allowing others to input in those decisions.

One of the unique things about my experience in this course is that my team was highly successful. Each member of the team was unique and had very different skills and ways of processing and making decisions. Some were ready to move quickly and some needed more time for discussion and reflection. Uniquely, our team was able to accommodate the needs of all members while remaining productive. I can’t put my finger on exactly what our “Secret Sauce” was as a team, we just seemed to gel and work at a high level together, with everyone contributing and working towards a goal.

In studying failed Mt. Everest attempts, we got to see what makes a team falter and ultimately fail. Lack of cohesion, autocratic leadership, and hubris all could lead to failures in leadership and teams. We could also see how small discrepancies or rifts could spiral into ultimately catastrophic failures for a team, and in the case of Everest, resulting in loss of life.