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Articles
Capturing
the Peak Experience
Tying
Outdoor Experience to Personal Performance
By
Rick Medrick
High above
the Colorado plains on a grassy promontory, 1,000 feet below
the summit of Broken Hand Peak in the Sangre de Cristo mountains
a group of 24 adults (the size of mosttribal groups throughout
history) raised and circled their arms in concert, emulating
the flying
motions of the eagle. After a few minutes of rhythmic movement
- silent meditation on
the awesome beauty of the alpine valley and the lakes spread
below - and the opportunity to
shed a sweater and have a snack the members of the group continued
their slowly cadenced
ascent, matching steps to the slope of the mountain, carefully
avoiding loose rock pacing
and spotting the person ahead as the terrain varied from grassy
meadow to loose and
rock scramble. By noon they were near the summit, reveling
in the view from the top, satisfied
in having worked together as team to minimize the risk of their
climb and provide
the support that made an ascent by such a diverse group possible.
Such an
experience is not the usual way that most climbers make their
way to the top of a Colorado peak, nor was this an average
group of backpackers on weekend holiday. Physician, business
executive, psychologist, author, college professor -- all were
taking part in an eight-day workshop called "Breaking
Through," a program offered by the Leadership
Outdoor Training Seminars of Denver.
Drawing
from such diverse influences as American Indian ritual, Taoist
philosophy and meditation, deep ecology and modern relaxation
and problem solving strategies, the group and its guides had
explored whitewater rafting, rock climbing, and mountaineering
as vehicles for expanding each person's capacity -- physically,
emotionally and perhaps spiritually -- to reach beyond the
possible, to explore new experiences, and function at a level
of peak performance.
That this
experience should culminate in a peak ascent is not accidental.
In 1962, Abraham Maslow identified "peak experience" as
a desirable aim for self-actualizing persons. The notion of
expanding upon and realizing a person's human potential has
been a crucial measure for the many forms of self-development
that have been both the impetus and by-product of the past
few decades. Presently, both individuals and organizations
are exploring and are often dedicated to the notion of transformation:
transcending barriers in many performance-oriented sports,
making breakthroughs in technological fields, changing the
mode in which organizations and corporations do business.
Nowhere
is this evidenced more dramatically than in the number of different
ways in which people of all ages are approaching the outdoors
as offering avenues for self-renewal, making personal changes,
escaping from stress, teambuilding, practice in problem solving,
and group decision-making. Almost overnight corporate America
is discovering the outdoors as the medium to shake the confines
of the executive boardroom or sterile workplace and relate
to fellow managers or employees in more open and cooperative
ways. Through whitewater rafting, technical rock climbing,
wilderness backpacking and back-country skiing, as well as
rope courses and other outdoor initiatives, both individuals
and groups are discovering ways to realign values, restructure
priorities, and develop a community of sharing that can profoundly
affect personal and professional lives.
What is
it that can be gained from negotiating a series of rapids with
a crew of six-to-eight fellow paddlers, climbing a peak amid
such hazards as rock fall, foul weather, lightning, or swinging
from a nylon rope across a rock face? While not easy to document,
the roots are well established by those early pioneers who
have explored our planet, climbing remote mountains, crossing
arctic regions, sailing uncharted oceans and flying our skies
in all sorts of aircraft. This is the lore of our age that
contributes mightily to our image of human achievement, of
what it means to be fully "human" and functioning
at peak levels.
What this
means when translated to human endeavors is the ability to
function effectively under pressure, to draw upon all available
personal resources which are being tested to their limits,
to work cooperatively and without conflict with others engaged
in the same task, to hone a fine edge in competition without
losing perspective on the entire experience. Such emphasis
is on vision and creativity, on maximizing the return on increasingly
limited resources.
On a rock
face, for example, you learn the fine art of staying in balance
while constantly striving to move beyond your present position.
Each section of rock is a road map to be read and traversed
with all the skill of an aerialist while carefully conserving
energy so you don't falter before reaching your goal. Likewise,
the trust you place in your fellow climbers is so absolute
that there is no question of their not coming through. The
failure of a belay can be fatal. A person has the means, through
such an endeavor, to test all those qualities of person and
spirit and whatever self-imposed restraints may serve to limit
a person's possibilities.
In more
general terms, the outdoor experience and the many ways in
which it can be explored, offer a valuable counterpoint to
the narrowly confined ways in which we define our lives and
our work, often estranged from the realities of our society
and our environment. In nature, we are constantly confronted
with circumstances and events over which we have little control,
where we are forced to call upon resources and act with a decisiveness
from which we are normally insulated.
There is
little room for passivity on a mountainside in the face of
an impending storm or when a raft spins out of control in the
middle of a rapid. The goal of growth related training experiences
in the outdoors is to bring these opportunities together in
a focused situation where their relevance can be perceived.
Such experience helps to train individuals and groups to make
decisions and take action under stress, to cope with the unexpected,
and to draw upon untapped reserves. It offers a paradigm that
could profoundly affect the way in which we view our potential
to work in harmony with our surroundings and with other individuals
and groups.
Obviously
not all outdoor experiences are suitable for all groups or
individuals, either by physical ability or personal inclination.
Fortunately, there are gentle ways to experience the outdoors
as well as strenuous encounters which support group interaction
rather than test personal capacities. Yet, in all cases, there
are parallels that can be drawn to situations in other life
endeavors, analogs that can be seen between learning in nature
and functioning in the toil and turmoil of everyday circumstances.
One element
stands out among all the others in outdoor experiential learning
situations. The factor which most enhances the value of such
learning and training is that we are tuning into patterns and
energies that are embedded deep within our selves. Not only
do we have all our human abilities and structures that emerged
from natural models and forms, but the ultimate test of their
viability is how they endure and function in harmony with the
energy and wholeness that we experience on a mountain top or
watching a sunset over the ocean. To recreate that feeling
of belonging to the whole, the mythic oneness with your own
actions, is what the peak experience is all about. That is
the one essential ingredient of peak performance whatever the
circumstances or setting.
Translated
into the corporate context, what this suggests is a reexamination
of corporate goals and values -- how they nurture the individual
and the corporate community, how they contribute to the larger
society, and how they harmonize with the needs of our personal
and physical environments and the protection and restoration
of our planetary ecosystem. While not all these ends can be
accomplished through corporate training programs in the outdoors,
they can certainly benefit from being considered in a setting
conducive to self-examination and appreciation of how nature
and people can live and work in harmony.
RICK
MEDRICK, Ed.D, has a doctoral
degree in psychology and experiential education and directs
the Denver-based Outdoor Leadership Training Seminars for
which he designs and conducts outdoor training programs
for individuals and corporate groups.
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