On 29 August at 7 a.m., on the shores of Okanagan Lake in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, I began the journey toward my personal Everest alongside 2,166 others who were doing the same. The annual Subaru Ironman Canada Triathlon (www.ironman.ca), an athletic event consisting of a 3.86 km. open water swim, a 180.2 km. bicycle trip and a full 42.2 km marathon run, began with a cannon blast. The journey ended some 8.5 to 17 hours later, with thousands of spectators cheering participants as they crossed the finish line.

Participants had their own reasons for engaging in this test of physical and mental strength. For myself, participation was a goal I had set many years ago. It meant several years of training, overcoming fears and overcoming feelings of self-doubt.

Why is taking on a challenge such as an "Ironman" important for personal and career success? Perhaps it is because how you handle the many mental and physical challenges is an exercise in self-discovery and enables improvement in all walks of life. Psychologists suggest that to stimulate major life changes, we must have a "significant emotional experience." The, we become the empowered with the resolve, courage and self-confidence necessary to tackle life’s challenges.

Set a goal and move toward it one step at a time. Your goal may not be an "Ironman"; it could be any one of a number of other challenges that test your resolve. You’ll likely experience setbacks and hear from people who will degrade your commitment, but pursuing your goal despite these hurdles will be worth it. Why? Consider the parallel found in Alice in Wonderland: "It's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then."

Other Bytes

Here are some of the things going on in and around the engineering community:

• With new technologies, education has changed dramatically. In “Teaching and Learning in a Hybrid World” (Educause Review; 39(4): 51-62, 2004; http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/), Susan Veronikas and Michael Shaughnessy interview Carol Twigg, executive director of the Center for Academic Transformation at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. They discuss current research on course redesign to improve student learning and reduce instructional costs. In a subsequent issue (39(5): 14-26, 2004), Stephen Downes discusses the process of blogging — reading online, engaging a community, and reflecting it online as a process of bringing life into learning in “Educational Blogging.” Finally, in “Going Nomadic: Mobile Learning in Higher Education” (39(5): 29-35), Bryan Alexander discusses how wireless, mobile technologies and their emergent trends, such as swarms, are affecting the learning environment, pedagogy and campus life.

• Oil supply and pricing influences all of our lives. In “How to Kick the Oil Habit” (Fortune; 150(4): 101-114, 2004; www.fortune.com), Nicholas Varchaver provides an overview of the current situation and offers a four-part plan for reducing our dependence on this natural resource: improve fuel economy; increase spending on alternative fuels, increase our commitment to energy efficiency; and give serious consideration to solar and wind renewable energy technology.

• The cellphone is a ubiquitous and evolving technology. In “Cellular Evolution” (Fortune; 150(4): 80-86, 2004; www.fortune.com), Stephanie Mehta discusses this technology’s history and offers a glimpse into the future.

• John Kenneth Galbraith has had an enormous influence on economic thought for many years. In “Unconventional Wisdom” (Canadian Business; 77(16): 57-60, 2004; www.canadianbusiness.com), Thomas Watson looks at this legendary economist’s extraordinary career. Some feel that Galbraith has influenced the world more than any other economist.

• The ability to make good decisions requires wisdom, is experienced-based, and is often context-specific. In “Deep Smarts” (Harvard Business Review; 82(9): 88-97, 2004; www.hbr.com), Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap discuss how the “tacit know-how” that an individual has built up over many years can be transferred to others. In the bigger picture, an organization’s willingness to adopt this practice is an investment in the organization’s success. This article is drawn from the authors’ forthcoming book by the same title.

• The ways in which we acquire, leverage and protect technological competencies to innovate successfully are central to business. Strategic Management Journal (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/2144) has published a special issue (Volume 25, Issue 8-9, 2004) on “The Global Acquisition, Leverage and Protection of Technological Competencies.” The 10 papers published examine the underlying mechanisms, and provide particularly useful information for resolving tensions and identifying potential synergies.

• Careers in the information technology sector are in the midst of fundamental change. In “Where the Opportunity Is” (Informationweek.com; #986:45-50, 2004; www.informationweek.com), Chris Murphy provides a summary of industry leaders’ thinking on how to prepare to be successful in tomorrow’s workplace. In a subsequent issue, Marianne McGee and Eric Chabrow (#1000: 20-22, 2004) discuss the current employment picture and the shift in the U.S. labor force toward IT employees with specialized skills in “Tech-Job Survival.”

• The increasing cost of health care is of concern to everyone. Employers are finding it difficult to meet escalating premium costs; some have decided to drop health care benefits entirely or shift more of the cost to their employees. In “A Health Care Agenda for Business” (MIT Sloan Management Review; 45(4): 56-64, 2004 http://web.mit.edu/smr/), Leonard Berry, Ann Mirabito and Donald Berwick discuss ways that companies can work with employees and providers to reduce costs while improving quality.

• Organizational politics has an important influence on your career. In “Monkey Business: Ten Ways to Survive and Thrive in the Corporate Jungle” (Canadian Business; 77(16): 83-85, 2004; www.canadianbusiness.com), Sarah Hood provides 10 suggestions on how to survive and thrive in the corporate jungle.