How M4810 helps us face the change of the Coronavirus

There are some events that enter history for being real turning points. Changes so vast and powerful, typically unexpected and - at least in part - unforeseen, to disturb the very foundations of our way of living. 

Situations like this can disturb and challenge any reality, even the most accustomed to change - even the most resilient. 

The explosion of the Coronavirus in Italy and in the world is one of these, and it will be remembered as one of the most significant events of our times. 

A stress-test that challenges individuals and companies, and yes, surely one of the greatest and most unexpected changeability tests of the recent past. 

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Even for Methodos, the Change Management company. 

Because it’s one thing to talk about change when it can be foreseen and faced with preparation. 

It’s a totally different thing to face it in extremely uncertain conditions, with volatile markets, laws that influence choices and activities, and fear that is behind it all.

It’s one thing to put in place smart working in normal working conditions, with the possibility to meet when necessary and to carry out the usual daily activities. It’s a totally different thing to do it when the entire country is in quarantine and movements are reduced to a minimum. 

It’s one thing to change one’s own mindset according to a long-term goal. Doing it quickly and in response to one of the greatest crises ever faced by our generation is much more difficult. 

Yet, there is something different in the way we operate. Something that, if this drama had arrived a couple of years ago, wouldn’t have been so strong and rooted. 

And that’s M4810 and what it has taught us about change. 

A subtle and light awareness that lingers among us, not particularly defined. A voice that rises from the speaker of a telephone, followed by many mumbles of approval, now that the Meeting All meetings are carried out remotely. 

M4810 really helped us change; we can see it now more than ever, in the way we are facing this crisis.

We see it in the way we respond to this extreme disturbance of everything that we know. A response in adverse times that depends on the consideration of limiting factors – something familiar to those that know the importance of adaptability. The capacity to not stay attached to decisions and choices, but to reconsider the whole journey, as we would when faced with bad weather in the mountains. 

A context, that of the Covid-19 emergency, in which what we’ve learned about risk analysis with M4810 is now more important than ever. Not always does a hazard coincide with the capacity to innovate – sometimes it’s just dangerous, and should be minimised as much as possible, as it would be in the mountains. Or like when a health emergency makes it necessary for us all to stay home. 

We can manage to do all this now, quickly and effectively, only because we’ve done a lot of work on the most important thing: our environment. We’ve created a company culture that is capable of welcoming challenges, of allowing freedom to experiment and to be proactive. A substrate that allows seeds to grow and change to happen naturally. That allows our teams to be aligned and cohesive. To have a common pace even when that rope that usually keeps us together – the office – disappears, and becomes an invisible thread made of digital communications. 

A culture that M4810 sustained, that allows us to trace a systematic Change Management journey, valid in the mountains as much as it is in the company, on the individual as much as on the organisation. That has made us better change agents – more effective on ourselves and for our clients. 

In the end, M4810 teaches and reminds us the most important thing in this crisis: the unpredictable predictability of change. “Mutations hit us whether we like it or not. We can’t avoid them, only prepare for them. The only way to stay on top of it all is to keep moving. Fluid, ready to change, to proactively welcome weak signals, and implement innovative solutions quickly. We must learn from unpredictability, using it as a supreme testing grounds for innovation techniques and practices.”

We’re making of this Coronavirus emergency, for ourselves and for others, another opportunity to learn, as we do in the mountains. We won’t let it go to vain. 

The journey

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Mont Fallère

Methodos - M4810 - Mont Fallère

It is the first peak over 3.000m of our project

Mont Fallère is found in the Grand Combin Alps in the Aosta Valley.

Found between the Gran San Bernardo Valley and the Valdigne, it’s a great introduction to the magical world of the 3000s. Mont Fallère, situated in the heart of the Aosta valley, proposes a 360° panorama of all the Aosta valley peaks. Its layout is not the be underestimated, but overall it doesn’t present great difficulties, even if we need to be really careful in the final part of the ridge.

We go up in two stages: the first day up to the Fallère Hut; the second day we arrive at the summit and then we go down to the valley.

Read the story :)

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Pointe Lechaud

Our first alpinistic climb to a summit

Pointe Léchaud (3.128m) is located along the borderline between Italy (Valle d'Aosta) and France (Savoy).

It is located south of the Col de la Seigne (2.512m) between the Veny Valley and the Savoy Valley of the Glaciers.

We climb in two stages: on the first day we walk from La Visaille to the Elisabetta Soldini Hut (2.195m); on the second day up to the top and back to La Visaille.

From the hut we go up to the Col Chavannes (2.603m); from the hill we have to leave the marked path that begins to descend into the Chavannes valley, following a path on the right that crosses the very steep eastern slope of Mount Lechaud. The trail continues on the right, again not far from the crest of Mount Lechaud and crosses a small valley of stones or snow, reaching the wide basin where the Chavannes Glacier is located. Once we have put on crampons, we set foot on the glacier going diagonally to the left. From this point we gradually turn to the right pointing directly to the top, which can be reached by overcoming some easy rocky steps. What we see is a vast and spectacular panorama on the Italian side of Mont Blanc.

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Vallée Blanche

Methodos - M4810 - Vallée Blanche

Crossing the Gigante glacier towards the Aiguille du Midi

Although it may seems like a "scenic walk", the Vallée Blanche should not be underestimated, as it is an itinerary that involves crossing the Gigante glacier. It is always necessary to be accompanied by an Alpine Guide who knows the itinerary very well and knows how to avoid the dangers.

We go up by cable car to Punta Helbronner (3.462m), we wear harnesses and crampons and we tie ourselves together.

The first section makes us lose altitude and then we start to climb towards the Aiguille du Midi. The last section includes the ascent of the snow-covered ridge of the Aiguille du Midi, reaching 3.842m.

The return is with the panoramic cable car which takes us back to Punta Helbronner.

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Monte Rosa

Methodos - M4810 - Monte Rosa

2 full-immersion days of technical alpine skill training on Monte Rosa

The Monte Rosa is a mountain range that is found in the Pennine Alps, along the watershed line between Italy (on the border of the Aosta valley and Piedmont) and Switzerland. It gives name to the Monte Rosa Alps supergroup, which in turn is composed of various important groups and subgroups, east of the Cervino and south-east of the Mischabel range. It is the most extended range in the Alps, and second in height after the Mont Blanc. It is the highest mountain in Switzerland and the second in Italy, and has the highest average height, containing 9 of the 20 highest peaks of the chain.

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Gran Paradiso

Methodos - M4810 - Gran Paradiso

The Gran Paradiso is the only mountain over 4000m that is fully on Italian territory

The Gran Paradiso is the only mountain over 4000m that is fully on Italian territory. A classic and fascinating climb: after a first part on ice, to be able to reach the peak marked by a statue of the Virgin Mary, you must pass some simple rocky crossings.

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Monte Bianco

Methodos - M4810 - Monte Bianco

Mont Blanc (Monte Bianco in Italian) is a mountain situated in the North-occidental Alps, in the Graian Alp range, on the watershed line between the Aosta valley (val Veny and val Ferret in Italy), and Haute-Savoie (the Arve valley in France), in the territories of Courmayeur and Chamonix, which give name to the Mont Blanc Massif, belonging to the subsection of the Mont Blanc Alps.

It’s 4808,72m (the last official measure was taken September 13, 2017) make it the highest mountain in the Alps, in Italy, in France, and in general in Europe if we exclude the Caucuses. This is why it’s called the King of the Alps. It shared a spot on the list of the highest Seven Summits with Mount Elbrus in the Caucuses.

Primarily granite full of peaks and crests, cut by deep glacial valleys, it is internationally renowned for its climbing and, from a historical point of view, the birth of mountaineering coincides with its first ascent: August 8, 1786.