Conservative think tank MCC is hosting a Budapest panel to examine performance under extreme pressure. Unlike typical discussions focused on stress management or motivation, this February 18th event will treat pressure as a consequence rather than a feeling.
Participants explore situations where decisions cannot be reversed, cannot be optimized afterward, and where failure results in real loss—whether human life, bankruptcy, or irreversible reputational damage.
Central to the discussion is Benedikt Böhm, extreme mountaineer and CEO of Lupin Lights System. Böhm is renowned for speed-style ascents of the world’s highest peaks without supplemental oxygen, spending minimal time in the so-called “death zone” to limit risk. His philosophy emphasizes meticulous planning, disciplined execution, and ruthless risk management:
turning back is not failure, but competence.
The panel will translate these principles into business, leadership, and psychological contexts. Drawing on extreme-environment experiences, executive decision-making, and cognitive psychology, the discussion examines how human thinking falters under real pressure and which mental processes become unreliable when stakes are irreversible.
Attendees will learn about goal planning, achieving seemingly impossible outcomes, calculating risk, handling exceptional circumstances, and confronting fear.
