I took a class on mountaineering knots last night. One of the knots they introduced was the truckers hitch. It’s a knot used to tighten a line, where you put a loop in the line and then wrap it around an object and back through the loop, using it as an anchor to take the slack out of the rope. The rope running back through itself creates a “Z.” Our instructor pointed at this and said, “3 to 1 mechanical advantage. If you practice this at home, don’t accidentally pull your couch across the living room.”
One of the abstract ideas I often employ is leverage. How to create leverage in this situation, in that situation, etc. etc.
Leverage is all about positioning. It’s the arrangement of objects to amplify force. The rope doesn’t inherently have a 3 to 1 mechanical advantage, but if you arrange it in a certain way, the force on one end is exponential.
If you were going to arrange yourself in your business, with the intention of creating leverage for yourself, what would that look like?
What would be the activities you would do? Wouldn’t do? When and were would you do them?
Featured image is the Truckers Hitch knot using the Alpine Butterfly for the loop. Used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Image by Mindbuilder – Own work.