Lessons from Outlast and Alone

I usually watch television shows a few years late, and this time is no different. But I’ve discovered that my son and I apparently share a common interest in watching reality TV about people surviving in the wilderness. We started with Outlast and watched the two seasons available on Netflix. Then we moved on to Alone, and I’m now about halfway through the first season.

Both shows are about surviving in the cold climates of Alaska and the Arctic tundra with few to no provisions. Outlast focuses more on team dynamics, with the one rule being that you have to be on a team. There's more drama and backstabbing, and the people come from more normal walks of life. Alone, unsurprisingly, is about being alone, where the drama is self-inflicted, and the cameras are self-directed. Despite this, it’s surprisingly watchable.

After watching the first season of Outlast, I started to discern who was going to do well and survive. The show has some good parallels to business and life in general. When sizing people up during their first days, here are some takeaways:

• Fat matters—a lot. You need bodyweight to burn, just like a startup needs cash. Some contestants go in vascular and toned, and you think, "Alright buddy, you’re not lasting two weeks." The smart ones go into the competition round and happy, with fat to burn and padding to spare.
• Positive energy is essential. If you hear someone starting to get down on themselves, you know they aren’t going to make it. A positive mood seems to be as important as nutrients when it comes to lasting in the wilderness.
• Your prioritization plan is critical. Some contestants immediately create a temporary shelter. Others start hunting food. Still others begin building a more permanent structure. What you realize is that what they choose to do during those first few weeks dramatically shapes the outcome. While they work on their projects, their calories are burning. Time is a precious commodity, and it’s clear how drastically decisions matter.
• Initial skills don’t seem to matter quite as much as you’d think. For example, being a highly skilled hunter doesn’t guarantee you’ll catch exponentially more game than a novice. Luck seems to even things out. One crack hunter lost his arrows. The animals and fish may also not show up. Ultimately, having a flexible attitude, a positive mindset, and the ability to make clear decisions seems to matter more than being a specialist.
• Relationships are key. At least in Outlast, the ability to form effective friendships was critical. It’s not just about forming bonds with your immediate teammate but also with others in the group. Being perceived positively by the whole team makes all the difference.

In the end, whether you're surviving in the wilderness or navigating everyday life, the qualities that matter most aren’t necessarily the obvious ones. It’s less about being the most skilled or physically "in shape" and more about having resilience, faith, a positive outlook, and the ability to adapt to the unpredictable. Watching these survival shows has not only been entertaining but has also served as a reminder that sometimes, mindset is everything.

I thought that our ability to judge the contestants from the outset seemed to have improved a lot, but then again, a couple of people we thought would kill it just tapped out on yesterday's show. So, maybe the real lesson is that people surprise you.