The only way is up Jonathan Ruane, adjunct professor in the Trinity Business School and faculty member at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, became the first Sligo man to summit Everest in May 2022. He talks to Trinity Today about breaking down big goals into small steps W hen teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) or the Trinity Business School, Jonathan Ruane likes to emphasise that ‘any job can be broken down into individual tasks. With any complex activity, the key to progress is to break it down into its constituent parts. You can then focus on one specific task, repeat it, become proficient, and move on to the next task.’ He co-founded a graduate course in MIT on the Global Business of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, and he uses the ‘constituent parts’ model to explain to students the potential impact of AI on the labour market. ‘It is useful to consider what do we mean by ‘a job’? Whether it’s teaching or researching or being a surgeon or a plumber, a job is a sum of tasks. Some, but not all, of those tasks are going to be replaced by automation technologies, often on a gradual basis. AI is a relatively new, but very powerful automation technology. For most occupations, rather than being suddenly eliminated in the short term, it’s more likely they will be reconfigured over a period of time. That is why flexibility and regular upskilling are so important.’ Since May of this year, he can provide, from personal experience, a near perfect example of overcoming a complex challenge by breaking it down into constituent parts, mastering each task whilst remaining flexible: summiting Everest. Everest is of course the highest peak in the world, though not, as Ruane points out, the most technically challenging to climb. But ‘at almost 9,000m, the challenges are relatively unique, especially around altitude. And of course, it can be dangerous. Sadly, things can go wrong.’ He was well-prepared for the challenges: ‘I was comfortable with the danger I was exposing myself to because I’ve put in many years of improving my skills and working with a world-class team of coaches and climbing partners. I’ve climbed peaks at 5,000m, 6,000m, 7,000m and 8,000m and I climb or train 300 days a year and that includes ice-climbing, rock-climbing and alpine climbing, which aren’t directly needed for Everest, but which add to your overall competence. I felt I was ready for Everest, it felt like a chapter in a continuous story for me.’
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