Teaching Innovation That Sticks: turning theory into practical problem solving under pressure
Business and management audiences often hear innovation taught as theory, but the ideas that last are the ones people can use under pressure. The hidden risk is that students learn the language of…
Heat Management in the Outdoors: applying cold-weather first principles to hot conditions
Hikers, guides and outdoor instructors are facing conditions where staying cool can be as important as staying warm. The common teaching bias is to focus on waterproofs, insulation and cold exposure…
How Expedition Gear Became Everyday Outdoor Kit: Fifty years of mountaineering problems behind the backpacks and clothing hikers use today
Mike Parsons supplied equipment to around 250 expeditions, including Chris Bonington's Annapurna and Southwest Face of Everest climbs, and watched climbers, designers and factory workers fix the…
Staying Warm and Dry Outdoors: The first principles of heat loss, moisture and layering that outdoor marketing leaves out
Mike Parsons argues that most hikers and backpackers trust the label on a new jacket to keep them safe, when the jacket only works as well as their grasp of heat loss, moisture and layering. He spent…
Reconstructing Mallory's 1924 Everest Clothing: what the kit reveals about early high-altitude climbing
Everest history audiences know the Mallory and Irvine story, but the clothing is often treated as background detail instead of primary evidence. Mike spent three years helping reconstruct the…
Resilience Built Through Action: how difficult undertakings change the evidence about your capability
People often talk about resilience as a mindset, but Mike’s experience suggests it is frequently built through action. Decades of climbing, skiing, cycling and travelling through 52 countries have…
Active Ageing and Adventure: how curiosity and physical challenge keep life expanding
Age is often treated as a reason to narrow our lives, yet Mike’s story challenges the assumption that curiosity, physical challenge and meaningful ambition belong mainly to the young. After more than…
Innovation From the Frontline: why the people closest to hard problems invent the solutions
Innovation is often discussed as something that begins in a boardroom, laboratory or product-development meeting, but Mike has spent decades watching it happen somewhere very different. In…
Equipping the Golden Age of British Mountaineering: 250 expeditions from the supply side
The great expeditions of the twentieth century are usually told through the climbers who reached the summit, but behind every successful expedition was an evolving world of equipment, manufacturing…
The Industry Behind the Summits: fifty years of equipment, innovation and British mountaineering
The history of mountaineering is often told through famous climbers and landmark ascents, but Mike’s forthcoming memoir tells the story from a different vantage point: the people, equipment…
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