Thailand Takeaways – Cave Rescue

Originally published on LinkedIn 11 July 2018

This morning, Thailand and the world are celebrating the rescue of 12 young football heroes and their coach from a cave in Chiang Rai in Thailand. The news could hardly be better for those who survived and our hearts go out to the family of the volunteer diver who sadly lost his life last week.

Most of us on the outside, looking in, can only speculate as to the finer details. Our imaginations must fill in the gaps until the movie hits the theatres, but there are so many takeaways already for our every day lives.

Resilience was paramount. The Wild Boars and their coach demonstrated remarkable resilience and bravery. Inspirational even. Firstly surviving nine days in darkness, with little food or water and barely a hope of rescue and then a further 6-8 days before the entire group was rescued in terrifying and dangerous conditions, yet still they kept smiling. They wrote letters of hope to their parents and joked with their saviours.

Teamwork on a massive scale. Naturally much of the focus will be on the group of elite and incredibly brave divers who risked their own lives to guide and carry the boys out, but the teamwork doesn’t end there. There were teams of support divers, checking guide-lines and delivering oxygen strategically along the route. Thai Navy Seals who were beyond amazing and brave! Teams replenishing and checking the oxygen tanks, teams feeding the hundreds of volunteers, media and families, teams pumping water out of the caves, the doctors, the nurses, the ambulance drivers, the helicopter crew, even the media, who were there in force to keep the world updated … the list goes on …

There was clear ownership and leadership. The Thai people owned the challenge, they were involved in every decision and did not shy away from reaching out for help when they knew they didn’t have the people and resources to effectively find and rescue the group. There is a lesson here for us all. This led to collaboration on a global scale. Teams of people from the UK, Australia, the US and many other nations came together and worked together to achieve the impossible.

Politics was almost non-existent as a thousand people worked towards a common goal. Nobody tried to put themselves before others or make themselves a media sensation – they pulled together as one – teamwork! Even when water was accidentally pumped back into the cave, there was no blame game, they simply got on with it, calmly and smoothly. Learning, reflecting and adjusting course at every stage.

They had a vision and a definition of success …

“We”, the Thai and international teams, are strong and firm in bringing all the Wild Boars home!

Fortunately, luck was largely on their side, finding the boys when they did, the floodwaters were manageable, the monsoon rain didn’t hamper rescue efforts too badly and the pump didn’t fail until everybody was out … but it was the people who made this a success.

Without each of these characteristics, this would have been a different story with a different ending. Thailand taught us a lot if we choose to listen. The story showed that humans care, collaboration is powerful, teamwork can move mountains and global cooperation brought about a miracle. Let’s hope our politicians can also take a message from this!