5 ms·

Was he ever successful? I’m pretty sure he never succeeded in a single attempt at anything, but I could be wrong.

by pico303 2y ago

tejtm 2y ago
He tried to keep his crew alive ... so there is that.
- duggan 2y ago
  And was remarkably successful at it — the entire crew of the Endurance came back alive.
  - noufalibrahim 2y ago
    Yup. As opposed to the voyage of the karluk where the leader simply abandoned his crew to die and the captain of the ship heroically saved half of them. It's a tragic story. I read it a little after I read Endurance and was struck by the contrast. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_voyage_of_the_Karluk https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_voyage_of_the_Karluk
monero-xmr 2y ago
I founded 6 businesses that were more / less failures and lucky number 7 paid off. But if I had founded 20 failures and retired I wouldn’t have cared in terms of whether my life was a failure or not. Some people just live to try, win or lose. If you aren’t trying then it’s an auto-fail.
- steveBK123 2y ago
  I saw a recent quote that sort of fits this view - "The opposite of success isn't failure, it's mediocrity"
fifilura 2y ago
Apart from the Endurance mission which i think can be put in the same category as Apollo 13. He also reached farthest south at 88,23 a few years before Amundsen/Scott, and many of the paths he took served as an inspiration for Amundsen.
mlsu 2y ago
I suppose not. His expeditions to the Antarctic failed their objectives. His business ventures were never successful. And he died in debt. BUT. He successfully sailed one of the greatest and most perilous ocean journeys ever in recorded history, and rescued every member of his 28-man crew from certain death. Funny in a cruel way. The world basically forgot about the voyage of the James Caird shortly after he returned home, since WWI had broken out during his time in Antarctica. He wasn't adequately recognized in his lifetime. I think he was one of humanity's finest.
- EdwardDiego 2y ago
  He repeatedly refused to monetise his name or experiences - he did lecture tours across Europe and the US and refused to charge money. Much to his wife's dismay.
  - hef19898 2y ago
    Kind sad sad how we have the tendency to equal success with wealth. There are way more ways to be successful than money, or fame (and hey Shackleton is one of the big four arctic / antarctic explorers, so fame-wise he did good). And he achieved imoressive things in his life.
    - AlecSchueler 2y ago
      I would agree with you today but at that time his wife and family would have been reliant on his income in a way that isn't true now. If you consider her and his responsibility to her then this attitude becomes quite selfish. Keep in mind he accepted this responsibility when taking on the marriage.
      - hef19898 2y ago
        Doesn't make him a failure so, does it? And considering how little social.places like the US have, wel... Are you sure things a different today?
EdwardDiego 2y ago
You should read his biography by Fiennes. He held the Farthest South record, that is, got the closest to the South Pole, until Amundsen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farthest_South https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farthest_South Robert Falcon Scott loathed him for it. Scott's last expedition used the route up the Beardmore Glacier through the Transantarctic Mountains that Shackleton pioneered. He succeeded even if he didn't reach the Pole.
due-rr 2y ago
According to this ted talk[1] he wasn’t. He led dangerously unprepared missions and ignored locals advice. Roald Admudsen was more successful and did it without the drama. [1]: https://youtu.be/b0Z9IpTVfUg https://youtu.be/b0Z9IpTVfUg
- fifilura 2y ago
  Pretty much everyone during this period was an amateur compared to Amundsen. Including the previously mentioned Nansen. Nansen was a generation earlier though, and among other things built the ship Amundsen used. Amundsen made something difficult look easy. Everyone else made the difficult look - difficult. And survived. Except for Scott who died. There is an analogy there with software projects by the way, except for maybe the dying part replaced with general failure.
- hef19898 2y ago
  This business professor, selling his books on leadership in a Ted x (!) talk lost me when he called Amundson "forgotten". Like hell, no, Amundson is not at all forgotten. And Shackleton is famous for saving everyone on his doomed Endurance expedition under extreme circumstances. Only measuring leadership, as im the Ted x(!) talk, with achievement of a stated, and up to then impossible, goals and ignoring a leader who saves everyone from death is at best short sighted, at worst ignorant. Did I mention the guy in the talk is a business professor with a book on leadership?
telesilla 2y ago
Compared to others who led their team to death, yes. Looking at you, Captain Robert Falcon Scott.
jethkl 2y ago
Martin Gutmann's recent talk ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Z9IpTVfUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Z9IpTVfUg ) supports your point. While Shackleton is celebrated for overcoming disaster, Admunsen reached the south pole by avoiding disaster in the first place. Yet despite Admunsen being more effective, he is not celebrated to the same degree (at least in the US) as Shackleton.
- fifilura 2y ago
  "he is not celebrated to the same degree (at least in the US) as Shackleton." As a Scandinavian I am pretty surprised by this, and I did not know. But I guess drama sells in the US :)
happyjack 2y ago
Oh yes, he was. Read about the Nimrod, furthest south, and Mount Erabus expeditions. Shackleton is a god father of Polar travel.

Was he ever successful? I’m pretty sure he never succeeded in a single attempt at anything, but I could be wrong.

tejtm 2y ago

He tried to keep his crew alive ... so there is that.

duggan 2y ago
And was remarkably successful at it — the entire crew of the Endurance came back alive.
- noufalibrahim 2y ago
  Yup. As opposed to the voyage of the karluk where the leader simply abandoned his crew to die and the captain of the ship heroically saved half of them. It's a tragic story. I read it a little after I read Endurance and was struck by the contrast. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_voyage_of_the_Karluk https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_voyage_of_the_Karluk

monero-xmr 2y ago

I founded 6 businesses that were more / less failures and lucky number 7 paid off. But if I had founded 20 failures and retired I wouldn’t have cared in terms of whether my life was a failure or not. Some people just live to try, win or lose. If you aren’t trying then it’s an auto-fail.

steveBK123 2y ago
I saw a recent quote that sort of fits this view - "The opposite of success isn't failure, it's mediocrity"

fifilura 2y ago

Apart from the Endurance mission which i think can be put in the same category as Apollo 13. He also reached farthest south at 88,23 a few years before Amundsen/Scott, and many of the paths he took served as an inspiration for Amundsen.

mlsu 2y ago

I suppose not. His expeditions to the Antarctic failed their objectives. His business ventures were never successful. And he died in debt. BUT. He successfully sailed one of the greatest and most perilous ocean journeys ever in recorded history, and rescued every member of his 28-man crew from certain death. Funny in a cruel way. The world basically forgot about the voyage of the James Caird shortly after he returned home, since WWI had broken out during his time in Antarctica. He wasn't adequately recognized in his lifetime. I think he was one of humanity's finest.

EdwardDiego 2y ago
He repeatedly refused to monetise his name or experiences - he did lecture tours across Europe and the US and refused to charge money. Much to his wife's dismay.
- hef19898 2y ago
  Kind sad sad how we have the tendency to equal success with wealth. There are way more ways to be successful than money, or fame (and hey Shackleton is one of the big four arctic / antarctic explorers, so fame-wise he did good). And he achieved imoressive things in his life.
  - AlecSchueler 2y ago
    I would agree with you today but at that time his wife and family would have been reliant on his income in a way that isn't true now. If you consider her and his responsibility to her then this attitude becomes quite selfish. Keep in mind he accepted this responsibility when taking on the marriage.
    - hef19898 2y ago
      Doesn't make him a failure so, does it? And considering how little social.places like the US have, wel... Are you sure things a different today?

EdwardDiego 2y ago

You should read his biography by Fiennes. He held the Farthest South record, that is, got the closest to the South Pole, until Amundsen. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farthest_South https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farthest_South Robert Falcon Scott loathed him for it. Scott's last expedition used the route up the Beardmore Glacier through the Transantarctic Mountains that Shackleton pioneered. He succeeded even if he didn't reach the Pole.

due-rr 2y ago

According to this ted talk[1] he wasn’t. He led dangerously unprepared missions and ignored locals advice. Roald Admudsen was more successful and did it without the drama. [1]: https://youtu.be/b0Z9IpTVfUg https://youtu.be/b0Z9IpTVfUg

fifilura 2y ago
Pretty much everyone during this period was an amateur compared to Amundsen. Including the previously mentioned Nansen. Nansen was a generation earlier though, and among other things built the ship Amundsen used. Amundsen made something difficult look easy. Everyone else made the difficult look - difficult. And survived. Except for Scott who died. There is an analogy there with software projects by the way, except for maybe the dying part replaced with general failure.
hef19898 2y ago
This business professor, selling his books on leadership in a Ted x (!) talk lost me when he called Amundson "forgotten". Like hell, no, Amundson is not at all forgotten. And Shackleton is famous for saving everyone on his doomed Endurance expedition under extreme circumstances. Only measuring leadership, as im the Ted x(!) talk, with achievement of a stated, and up to then impossible, goals and ignoring a leader who saves everyone from death is at best short sighted, at worst ignorant. Did I mention the guy in the talk is a business professor with a book on leadership?

telesilla 2y ago

Compared to others who led their team to death, yes. Looking at you, Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

jethkl 2y ago

Martin Gutmann's recent talk ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Z9IpTVfUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Z9IpTVfUg ) supports your point. While Shackleton is celebrated for overcoming disaster, Admunsen reached the south pole by avoiding disaster in the first place. Yet despite Admunsen being more effective, he is not celebrated to the same degree (at least in the US) as Shackleton.

fifilura 2y ago
"he is not celebrated to the same degree (at least in the US) as Shackleton." As a Scandinavian I am pretty surprised by this, and I did not know. But I guess drama sells in the US :)

happyjack 2y ago

Oh yes, he was. Read about the Nimrod, furthest south, and Mount Erabus expeditions. Shackleton is a god father of Polar travel.