By Martin Dugard S ince 1995, I've been a competitor in a French endurance race known as the Raid Gauloises. Over mountains, down raging rivers, through the heart of the densest of jungle. Events include mountaineering, rafting, mountain biking, and even skydiving.
Teams carry their own supplies and sleep just an hour per day.
The typical finishing time is somewhere between eight days and two weeks. The Raid, I have discovered, is a metaphor for life. And, by extension, the world of business. There's the need to work in a team setting, the need to persevere, the need to overcome adversity, the need to believe in a goal. I consider the Raid the premier testing site for management theory, as all activity takes place under the extreme pressure of competition in a hostile environment.