Your careful weighing of so much evidence and attention to the failures of the leader was necessary in view of the severe criticism Wilcox faced immediately after the disaster.

I am interested to read more on this topic. I’m going to see if I can track down those books you recommend.

Thank you for an awesome read. Writing it must have felt like climbing a mountain sometimes — but at least you didn’t have to worry about frostbite or altitude sickness.

Your article raises some very interesting questions about conflict in the context of high-stress endeavors like high-altitude mountaineering. There have been examples of calamitous expeditions which actually prompted greater bonding and cooperation–probably the most notable is the 1953 American K2 Expedition, described in Bob Bates and Charles Houston’s classic account, The Savage Mountain. But corollary examples abound, as well. An expedition of the kind you mention, successful yet riven with discord, appears in Jonathan Waterman’s brutally honest account of his winter attempt with two “partners” on Denali’s Cassin Ridge.

Of all the books and studies on risk and outcome probability, Charles Perrow’s Normal Accidents was the most helpful to me in my research. His thesis,stripped to bare bones, is that certain systems are sufficiently complex to assure, rather than prevent, failure. He cites nuclear reactors and oceangoing freighters as examples. His reasoning can be helpfully extended to examine an expedition with 12 members, 3000 pounds of supplies, seven camps, and 30 days on a 58-mile round trip route.

Thanks again, Anne!

Jim Tabor

Now - I’m not suggesting that there aren’t GOOD practices out there which may assist your business … but “best”? The implication is that you couldn’t do any better …