“Summit fever” is a mountaineering term that describes the drive or compulsion of a climber to reach the summit of a mountain no matter what the cost.
The climber has invested time, energy and resources into pursuing the goal, and when the mountain summit is in sight—and the goal nearly complete—there’s a tendency for judgement to become impaired. In short, people make choices toward the top of the mountain that they almost certainly would not have made earlier in the journey.
The concept of summit fever can be applied to work, too, according to 10/12 Industry Report. particularly when employees are assigned to jobs that are large in scope and personal effort. We become highly invested in our tasks during overhauls, major installations or any other job to which we devote significant time, energy and resources.
Just as in mountaineering, we can be influenced as we near the completion of a tough project, and mitigating this requires acute awareness of how our attitude changes when the end is in sight.
Read the full story about how to avoid “Summit fever.”
