Hanging in the balance between the risk of mistake and innovation

Risk analysis is an essential topic for many companies.

In a market in which costs for organisations are constantly increasing, mistakes are expenses that many don’t want and can’t afford.

More and more often, among the main priorities of organisations we find the attempt to reduce risks and margins for error, standardising the ordinary as much as possible. Fixed procedures, repeated activities, consolidated tasks: organisations use all tools at their disposal to perfect execution and reduce the risk of mistakes.

This is obviously very useful in daily activities, in the implementation of standard processes for the production of consolidated output.

But when should we innovate? When is the goal not to produce the usual result, but to raise the bar? Constant improvement is necessary in order to avoid being left behind, outrun by others. And this doesn’t necessarily call for disruption. Actually, it’s usually incremental innovation that allows companies to ride the wave, and to be able to reach it requires the right mindset – one that allows for continuous change.

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Risk analysis is an essential topic for many companies.

In a market in which costs for organisations are constantly increasing, mistakes are expenses that many don’t want and can’t afford.

More and more often, among the main priorities of organisations we find the attempt to reduce risks and margins for error, standardising the ordinary as much as possible. Fixed procedures, repeated activities, consolidated tasks: organisations use all tools at their disposal to perfect execution and reduce the risk of mistakes.

This is obviously very useful in daily activities, in the implementation of standard processes for the production of consolidated output.

But when should we innovate? When is the goal not to produce the usual result, but to raise the bar? Constant improvement is necessary in order to avoid being left behind, outrun by others. And this doesn’t necessarily call for disruption. Actually, it’s usually incremental innovation that allows companies to ride the wave, and to be able to reach it requires the right mindset – one that allows for continuous change.

As we already know, this isn’t a challenge reserved for tech companies, but a conditio sine qua non for staying in the market and being competitive – one that is valid in all fields. When you enter this new environment of “experimentation”, you have to try doing something new: if the regular result is no longer enough, the only way to get a different one is to change something along the way.

You HAVE TO give yourself margins for error – there is no such thing as innovation without risk. But in this case, it’s not a negative possibility. It’s another way of looking at error – not as an unrecoverable cost, but as an investment with very high ROI potential. Two different worlds.

In this way, while companies try to standardise processes, they have also learned to give space in the field of research, calculating exactly how much they can afford to risk (above all in economic terms).

Failure, in this context, is a possibility. And it should almost be welcomed as a source of learning.

M4810 represents this latter type of innovation. When you take the first steps in a new direction - like that of applying Change Management techniques in extreme situations, far removed from the comfort zone of the classic school of thought - every result is an occasion to learn.

We are here to validate or refute some theories and practices. We are here to teach our clients to do the same, testing it on our own skin first.

But from the point of view of the mountains, the prospective changes completely. Up there, among the peaks of snow, we find ourselves in the quintessential land of the unpredictable.

And the tolerance for error in the mountains is very, very different. The consolidated goal is to reduce risk as much as possible, given that it’s impossible to avoid it completely and that there will always be threats to consider.

In this case, the approach should be more similar to the first type, reducing to a minimum the possibility for “predictable” mistakes because there will always be unexpected variables – objective and subjective risks. We have to try to make our predictions as precise as possible, but we will never be one hundred percent sure.

The choice of when to climb the Mont Blanc is a perfect example of this: within the 3-month window in the summer, what moment exactly is the least risky?

This is the question that led us and our guides to choosing a date in July, as well as to many other decisions related to the project.

In the end, there are two ways to approach an expedition like M4810, two faces of the same coin that must be balanced. The necessary push towards change, innovation, and experimentation on one side. And on the other, the uncompromisable need to ensure safety and to reduce risks to a minimum.

We will have to standardise incremental efficiency, in the meantime finding space for change and innovation, literally step by step.

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.