Coordinate and act
Name summit fever
Name the goal fixation that overrides judgment
Name in advance the pull to push past the point of safety, and agree that stopping well counts as success.
Borrowed from Mountaineering, where "summit fever" is the name climbers use for the push to reach the top at any cost. Read the original source.
One session · Minutes to start · Anyone on the team can start it
Try this first
Agree one sentence before the push. If we see this warning sign, we stop, even if we are close.
Use it when
Hitting a milestone is starting to override judgment and safety.
Skip it when
It suits high-commitment efforts where pushing on carries real cost. Low-stakes work does not need it, and it should never become cover for quitting when things get hard.
How to introduce it
Climbers know the pull toward the summit overrides judgment, and that most accidents happen on the descent, after the goal is in sight. Name your team's version out loud. We have put so much into this that we cannot stop now. Then agree in advance that stopping when the signs say stop is success.
How to show up
Name the trap while everyone is calm, because in the moment the pull is very hard to argue with. When you see goal-fixation take over, name it and point back to the agreement.
How long it takes
A few minutes to name and set the stopping line before the effort begins.
What makes it hard
The hardest moment is the warning sign arriving while the goal looks close. Refer to the agreement rather than reopening it. People will point at what has been invested, which is the trap itself.
What it looks like when it's working
The team stops a struggling effort by pointing at a rule it set earlier, and nobody feels like a failure. Spent effort still winning the argument means the trap still has hold.
How long until it sticks
One or two experiences of stopping well, and being glad of it, cement the habit.
How you know it stuck
Someone names summit fever in the moment and the group treats a safe stop as a good outcome.
The idea behind it
Wanting to finish is natural and dangerous. The goal is optional. Getting out is not. What you have already spent is gone either way and should not decide whether you continue.
Where it comes from
Mountaineering's turnaround rule. Name the equivalent goal-fixation ("we've invested too much to stop now") as a known trap, and treat safe completion, not hitting the milestone, as success. The tradition explicitly names the goal-fixation that overrides safety, and teaches that "the summit is optional. The descent is mandatory". Most accidents happen on the way down, after the goal is reached.
Why it matters for senior teams
It shapes direction and consequential decisions
Also fits: Confident claims go unchecked; Warning signs get explained away