Two O'Clock Passed

May 10, 1996. Mount Everest.

Everyone knew the rule.

Turn around by 2pm. No exceptions. The mountain becomes unsurvivable after dark.

By 2pm, climbers were still 2 hours from the summit.

Guides who had enforced this rule for decades made a choice.

They kept climbing.

8 people died that day.

Not from inexperience. These were elite guides. Rob Hall had summited five times.

Not from bad weather. The storm was forecastable.

From the gap between espoused theory and theory-in-use.

The rule existed. Everyone knew it.

But under pressure (paying clients, ego, summit fever) the actual operating theory was different.

"The rule applies... unless we're close."

Two o'clock passed.

Nobody said stop.

Scarcity (time) forced a choice. The choice revealed the actual values.

This note explores THE SQUEEZE, one of four forces from Shadow Strategy. Everyone has rules. Constraints reveal which ones are real.