When Your Life Depends on It: Extreme Decision Making Lessons from the Antarctic

by Brad Borkan, David Hirzel

WINNER OF MULTIPLE BOOK AND AUDIOBOOK AWARDS. Here is the remarkable story of the life-and-death decisions made by the early Antarctic explorers.Packed with jaw-droppingly unforgettable, true adventures, this book reveals how the explorers risked life and limb for science, ego, national recognition, and being first to the South Pole.They all came near death all the time. Survival depended on mutual respect, camaraderie, loyalty, and the ability to resolve conflict. All of which can be summarised in one word – teamwork.Filled with insights for modern people like you and your friends, Brad Borkan and David Hirzel (co-authors of Audacious Goals, Remarkable Results) demonstrate, in this thrill-a-minute read, how these adventures reveal valuable life skills.Courage, perseverance – and even humor in the face of insurmountable odds – are skills as essential today as they were in the age of Shackleton.Buy When Your Life Depends on It. Cool down from the summer heat, and start your Antarctic adventure today. ★★★★★ “Absolutely inspiring. To me this should be required life reading.” Jean Bartlett, columnist.★★★★★ “Excellent and compelling.” Geoff Hudson-Searle, Executive and best-selling author★★★★★ “Clever, informative and extremely well researched.” Baz Gray, CEO, explorer and mountaineerAwards for When Your Life Depends on First Chanticleer International Book Awards I&I Best Decision Making Books of All Wishing Shelf Best Voice Arts Best History

Genres: Outdoors

212 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 8, 2017

About the author

Brad Borkan has a lifelong interest in how people and businesses survive, and thrive, in almost impossible situations. Brad is co-author of two books.

The first is the award-winning book: When Your Life Depends on It: Extreme Decision Making Lessons from the Antarctic. Listed in the Top 100 Best Decision Making Books of All Time, the book puts the reader right into the action of the life-and-death decisions made by early explorers. In it, he reveals unparalleled lessons in leadership, teamwork, and the sheer determination that can help all of us make better decisions in life.

His second book, Audacious Goals, Remarkable Results: How an Explorer, an Engineer and a Statesman Shaped our Modern World, focuses on six epic achievements made by three extraordinary people, one of whom is Theodore Roosevelt. It explains the mindset needed to make a monumental impact.

Brad is an author and lecturer who has travelled to all seven continents. He has presented at business and Antarctic conferences, on cable TV in the US, and as a guest on podcasts and internet radio programs. He previously worked for SAP. Originally from the US, and now based in London, Brad was honored to be made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

The book is co-authored with David Hirzel, a California-based Antarctic historian. The website for their books is www.extreme-decisions.com.

Reviews

[William Irvine · Rating 4 out of 5]

There can be few people – particularly in Britain - who are not familiar with the story of ‘Scott of the Antarctic’. Similarly, Captain Oates’ self-sacrifice, as he left the expedition tent to certain death from exposure in order to avoid fatally slowing his comrades down, have been part of British lore for more than a century. I was pleasantly surprised therefore that there was still so much to learn from this book. I had often wondered for example who Amundsen – the Norwegian who beat Scott to the South Pole – was. What else he had done? Unsurprisingly, we hear a lot less about him in the UK than Scott. The several detailed and well-articulated histories of the leaders, also of a number of the team-members, from the heroic age of Antarctic exploration make for great reading.

Equally gripping were the various dilemmas that sometimes confronted these men – and the equally astonishing choices they made. The difficult circumstances of these first expeditions certainly provide an ideal context for an examination of ‘extreme’ decision-taking – once away from the coast there is no option to forage or hunt nor, in the first two decades of the twentieth century, was radioing for help a possibility. The authors walk the reader through several of these, often agonising, decisions with great skill. They similarly sustain the reader’s interest as they relate how events unfolded once the explorers has cast their lots.

Most of the chapters conclude with a training course-style ‘lessons to be learned’ passage, inviting the reader to relate the decision-taking they have just read about to their own experience eg ‘When you’ve taken a big risk and bad luck seems to overwhelm you, what do you do? Would you or do you just give up, or do you keep trying?’ My feeling was that these ‘prompts to reflect’ were unnecessary - the events and decisions speaking for themselves, provoking plenty of thought anyway. Overall, however, a fascinating book - one I am grateful for having read, and that I would gladly recommend to anyone.

[Delcene Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting overview of Antartic exploration in the early 1900.

The book provides synopses of decision making - by explorers such as Shackleton, Mawson, Amundsen and Scott to name a few - whilst in extreme circumstances. Often their decisions were flawed and resulted in fatal consequences.

The book analyses the decision making process and throws back questions at you asking - what would you do in these types of situations.

I felt the book was a bit brief and often repetitive but it had a strong message which encourages you you reflect on your own decision making capabilities.

Fortunately there is a comprehensive list in the Appendix which refers to further reading- of which I have read a few and will endeavour to read a few more.

[Debbie Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully presented, inspiring book detailing the many challenges faced and (mostly) overcome by the Antarctic explorers of the "heroic age" of South Polar expeditions, Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen and Mawson. I have always been interested in their history, and this book provided a new take on it, putting the reader in the explorers' shoes and renewing and increasing my respect for these bravw, determined, dignified and resilient men.

The book is pitched as a management advice book for those making executive decisions, but I think it is of just as much interest and value to anyone interested in this period of history and science, or to anyone interested in personal development in settings other than business.

I will be recommending it to a wide range of people, and I hope this book gains the much larger audience that it deserves.

[Billy Buttons · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2021
Category 8 (Audiobooks)
FEEDBACK
This audiobook was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our listeners thought:
Title: When Your Life Depends on It: Extreme Decision Making Lessons from the Antarctic
Author: Brad Borkan, David Hirzel
Narrator: Dennis Kleinman

Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Listeners: 9
Stats
Narrator Performance: /1010
Writing Style: 9/10
Content/Plot: 10/10
Cover: 5/5
Sound Quality / Music / Sound Effects: 4/5

Of the 9 listeners:
9 would listen to another book by this author.
9 would listen to another book narrated by this performer.
9 thought the cover was good or excellent.
9 felt it was easy to follow.
9 would recommend this audiobook to another listener to try.
Of all the listeners, 5 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘subject knowledge’.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
9 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
9 thought the author understood the listeners and what they wanted.
9 thought the narrator understood the listeners and what they wanted.

Listeners’ Comments
“This book looks at taking big risks, knowing when to go for it and when not to. I thought it was original in terms of the analysis of Antarctic explorers. The narrator also did a good job of putting over the text in an easy to follow and interesting way.” Male listener, aged 70
“Interesting not just in terms of doing the right thing but also in terms of history and getting to know and understand the explorers/adventurers. Endurance, it seems, is what they all had in common. And we all need a little of that! The narrator did an excellent job.” Female reader, aged 38
“I have enjoyed two books by these authors and, although I think they need to include women in the books they write, I still enjoy them. Come on, lads – next book let´s have a little analysis of women leaders and the lessons we can learn from them. This book is superbly put together, informative, and very relevant to today´s world.” Female reader, aged 48

To Sum It Up:
‘Leadership tips from Antarctic explorers! Accessible, well-written, and utterly compelling! A GOLD MEDAL WINNER and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards

[Billy Buttons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: When Your Life Depends On It
Author: Brad Borkan, David Hirzel

Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 20
Stats
Editing: 7/10
Writing Style: 8/10
Content: 9/10
Cover: 9/10
Of the 20 readers:
20 would read another book by this author.
18 thought the cover was good or excellent.
17 felt it was easy to follow.
20 would recommend this story to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 12 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘subject knowledge’.
Of all the readers,8 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
19 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
20 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.

Readers’ Comments
‘This book is all about inspiration. I really enjoyed experiencing what these explorers did and how we can take what they did and relate it to everyday life.’ Male reader, aged 54
‘Lots of lessons on decision making disguised in a thrilling book of Antarctic explorers.’ Female reader, aged 47
‘If you wish to succeed in life – and work – a book like this might help. Lots of tips all illustrated by the ‘never give up’ attitude of Antarctic explorers from the past. I thought this was highly interesting and well-written.’ Female reader, aged 38
‘You don’t have to travel to the pole to benefit from understand how these great explorers did what they did and (mostly) survived to tell the tale. A fascinating read on many levels.’ Female reader, aged 30
‘Jumps around a bit. Possibly needs a good editor to restructure it for easy reading. But I enjoyed it very much.’ Male reader, aged 48

To Sum It Up:
‘A fascinating account of Antarctic explorers and how, by studying them, we can improve our own leadership skills. A FINALIST and highly recommended.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When Your Life Depends On" It is an incredibly engaging book that immerses you into the amazing world of polar exploration—full of larger-than-life adventures that are so fantastic, it is sometimes hard to believe that they are true. The brave men who explored this unknown territory, like Ernest Shackeleton, Robert Scott, Roald Amundsen, and Douglas Mawson, were true heroes, and often faced life-and-death decisions just to survive—the kind most of us never have to make in our own lives. The stories—and the settings—are gripping, exhilarating and inspiring—you will find it hard to put this book down once you start reading it.

But this book is also about something much larger—the deep, true, higher nature of all human beings. Many of these men displayed highly heroic and compassionate morality in countless situations where supreme sacrifices were required. They made difficult decisions based on core values and beliefs such as loyalty, devotion, commitment, friendship, love and more.

Along with being an immensely enjoyable read, "When Your Life Depends" will inspire you to contemplate your own values, and help you to shine an inner light on how you make decisions in your own life, both large and small. We can all learn a lot from these heroic men, and in turn can incorporate these precious lessons into our own much-more-simple everyday lives. What a lovely gift from Brad Borkan and David Hirzel. —Lily O'Brien

[Geoff Hudson-Searle · Rating 5 out of 5]

'When Your Life Depends on it' has been written with tremendous foresight, knowledge and insight. We sometimes forget and take time to understand that life and death decisions are made in such quests to achieve greatness. Many of us have not made sacrifices in life, risks and overcome adversity with such levels of sheer unstoppable endurance, the book is very compelling not just in the heroic way it is written, but in the way you can transfer these skills to everyday life. Working together effectively as a key player on the path to success, it’s as much a skill to learn, improve and define as sporting performance or business practice. You may have discovered your goal, and detailed what the performance to achieve that goal looks like, but until you can work together effectively, in large, you’ll find yourself falling short of your ambitions. I toytally reccommend this book for entrepreneurs, corporate leasdership or for readers that are looking for a sense of heroic adventure, a super read!

[Izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Your Life Depends On it: Extreme decision making lessons from the antarctic by Brad Borkan and David Hirzel
The explorers in Anarctica were apparently also great salesmen, able to finance their trips based on public curiosity, with probably a bit of government support behind the scenes as well….
The contrasts between the live of the explorers in the Space Station flying above and on Antarctica 100 years ago is quite dramatic, with communications being possibly rhe greatest. Ability to control one’s environment under the even more adverse conditions of space 100 years after Admunsen and Scott et al. went out across the inhospitable interior of Antarctica.

I am not sure about the applicability of the lessons that we might observe in these tales, although one cannot deny the teams’ ability to describe survive extreme conditions and limited amounts of awful food, while pulling (man-hauling) very heavy sleds up to 10,000 feet above sea level.

[Olivia Spring · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read

I rarely read non-fiction books but after vowing to step outside of my comfort zone, I decided to give this book a try and was immediately captivated. I found the stories of Scott, Shackleton and other brave explorers incredibly inspirational and admired how they chose to put themselves through such challenging conditions all in the name of discovery and progress.

The authors have presented these wonderful stories in a very digestible way that is both easy to follow and fascinating to read. They also really encourage you to consider how you may have responded in those situations and to think about how the lessons learned from over a hundred years ago can be applied to help tackle making difficult decisions today. I was pleasantly surprised how much this book has helped me in my own decision making. A great read.

[William Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've just completed Borkan's book on extreme decision making and was on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. The decisions of the antarctic explorers really were life and death (some made it, and some did not). Importantly, the lessons learned extend far beyond polar exploration to every high-stakes scenario. (I'd highly recommend this book to businessmen and women faced with difficult decisions, for example). I was so impressed with Mr. Borkan's work that I've invited him to be my guest on the 9-11 episode of "Sword and Pen." He's going to tie the perilous circumstances faced by the polar explorers to those faced by the heroic police, fire and other responders who risked their lives trying to rescue the victims of our nation's worst terrorist attack.

[Denise Forrest · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this to gain a general understanding of Antarctic exploration for a school topic without having to plough through several books about each of the missions of the Heroic Age. It did the job of giving shortened accounts but the authors’ desire to explore themes such as what motivated the men & whether you should honour a promise at all costs, meant that the stories were not presented in any particular order, which made it, at times, confusing.

It gave a good overview of the hardships and heroics these men endured, with remarkably little loss of life. However, I don’t think it achieved the authors’ dual aim of providing lessons for life and business from the explorers’ exploits. I wasn’t reading it for that purpose though.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, at least the stories about the South Pole explorers was good... Amundsen, Scott and others in various expeditions in the early 1900s - the "heroic" age of expeditions. Plenty of great stories about their expeditions, the planning, what went wrong and how they dealt with the life threatening scenarios. Applying their decision making lessons to today? Sure, I guess. Most of the lessons were nothing special. And the writing was...not great. I hated the constant references to chapters to come - "I'll finish that story in chapter xx, is all fair in love, was and polar expeditions?" If you want to read about polar expeditions, it was ok, but probably lots better alternatives...

[Paulo Peres · Rating 5 out of 5]

O autor traz relatos muito vívidos e fortes de pessoas que tinham altíssima determinação e porquês muito fortes de se lançarem em expedições à Antártida entre 1900 e 1920. São descrições que fazem você pensar que o foco mental superam qualquer fraqueza de resistência física.

É além de Shakleton por mostrar a bravura, a coragem e a força de expedicionários que arriscavam suas vidas em um ambiente totalmente hostil e difícil em prol de ultrapassar seus limites, conhecer novas áreas e também científicos.

[Jack Tompkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading "When Your Life Depends On It". I loved hearing the incredible stories of the explorers and the authors drew very interesting points from their decisions that really do make you think about how you can use their experience to benefit your own career. Very much hope that they write a follow up!

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have both the audiobook and the ebook. The audiobook is beautifully narrated, and really gets you immersed into the stories. I have always loved stories of Antarctic explorers, and what I especially loved about this book is that it takes their adventures and turns them into learning opportunities for the reader, with questions for reflection at the end of each chapter. I highly recommend it!