Talus is the frost shattered rock that always lies at the base of every mountain, between the trail and the peak. Getting around on it is hell. Until you develop the experience to know that moving slowly and carefully is a lot harder than moving fast. To move faster requires full attention, 100 per cent focus and confidence.
“…we begin to see that coordinating the step from one point of balance to the next implies another quality – rhythm…We build up momentum. Each step becomes less of a stance, more of a brief way-station to the next step. The dynamic overcomes the static,” writes veteran climber Doug Robinson.
Yes it is a metaphor. It is about many things but in this instance I use it because you need to know when you know things.
When you have been through hundreds of organisations and seen how things really work, you get a feel for the rough terrain and know when and how to move over it quickly.
“This idea that excellence at a complex task requires a critical, minimum level of practice – surfaces again and again in studies of expertise. In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is a magic number for true expertise: 10,000 hours,” according to author Malcolm Gladwell.
So when you have that 10,000 hours of working with groups of people you have that you read situations must faster. You know that there are times when you don’t hang around and plot strategy, when you need to work with what’s there, trust your own balance and develop the skill of being absolutely present.
You need to appreciate when talus is there and that it is not the ultimate ascent requiring painstaking route plotting combined with technical sophistication. You recognise that there is always talus– and plenty of it.
References
Gladwell, Malcom. (2008) Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown and Company, Hachette Book Group, New York.
Robinson, Doug. (1975) Running Talus. The Great Pacific Ironworks . Chouinard Equipment, Ventura, California