The Rescue of the Thai Soccer Team: 11 Lessons for Your Team on Making the Impossible Possible

A few weeks ago, the world was riveted by the story of 12 boys and their soccer coach who had disappeared in a cave in Thailand. The events unfolded in real time, moving from a local search, to discovery and then an international rescue operation. In the perpetual torrent of bad news that has become the norm, their successful rescue provided a welcome moment of euphoric joy felt around the world. I expect that there are already book and movie deals being inked, but I came across this documentary that reveals the details of the operation, and gives us many insights into the reasons it was successful:

Divers reveal extraordinary behind-the-scenes details of Thailand cave rescue

As I had watched it in real time, and now on YouTube, I was struck by the level of collaboration and the spirit of resolve that undergirded the entire operation. What if we could have this in our organisations? What would that mean to the results we generate and how we generate them? Here are 10 observations that I believe we can learn from:

1. Be clear on your intention and maintain focus – the clear intention was first to find the boys, and then rescue them. Everyone was committed to that end.
2. BUT, be prepared for the worst – that way, when setbacks or even tragedy occurred the team is not flummoxed into despair and inaction. As one member of the rescue team said “I was always confident we could get them out. It was getting them out alive.”
3. Ask for help. At first, the search was carried out by the local community, then the Thai Navy and eventually the US Military and expert cave divers from around the world. Recognising when to ask for help, and actually doing so, is a great strength. Often, we view that an admission that we need help as a weakness. It is not. Especially when time is off the essence, trying to do it yourself could result in a long learning curve, and precious time lost.
4. Understand what skills are needed – there was a gamut of expertise working together to ensure success – scuba diving, cave diving and exploration, engineers, meteorologists, but even an anaesthetist and a doctor preparing the team for their rescue.
5. Brainstorm ALL options and then make a decision – the team brainstormed the options for rescue, no matter how crazy they may have seemed e.g. there was even a proposal to leave the boys there for 4 months. “Think crazy thoughts,” one of my workshop principles, is never more appropriate than when you are trying to solve big problems – go to the edge and even over, in terms of the possible solutions you generate. Evaluate them, then narrow down to the most feasible, make the best possible decision at the time and get started.
6. Use data – scientific data such as maps and weather forecasts were used, as well as the knowledge of the local community, who have intimate knowledge of the cave system. Two members of the soccer team who had not gone on the adventure, were able to indicate the team’s planned destination in the cave.
7. Everyone clear on their role – over and over we hear in the documentary people saying “My role was …” The boys were brought out in groups of 4 by teams of 18 rescuers. The passage was dissected into stages, with the requisite expertise at each stage. You can see in the handoff at each stage, the certainty that each team member had about what they were to do.
8. Practice, practice, practice – once the rescue team leadership had decided on the best option, there were practice sessions in a swimming pool using children from the community to figure out the best gear to use for children who could not swim, nor had ever been in a scuba suit. And as they waited, the Thai Navy Seals would take each boy in the cave to the water and have them get comfortable with the gear.
9. Put mission before self – four Thai Navy Seals stayed with the boys until they were all rescued. The saddest moment of the operation was when Saman Gunan, a former Royal Thai Navy Seal who had volunteered, lost his life whilst ferrying air canisters along the route. It would have been so easy then to get discouraged and give up. But the team decided that the best way to honour his sacrifice was to continue with the mission.
10. Honour the humanity – throughout the rescue, there were small acts of kindness shown to the boys such as having them write letters which the divers transported to their parents. The families were honoured and respected and communicated with regularly.
11. COMMUNICATE! COMMUNICATE! COMMUNICATE! We saw regular press briefings (international media had quickly converged on the scene). But what I thought was really fascinating was how careful the spokespeople were in what they communicated and how e.g. they did not reveal the identities of the boys coming out of the cave until all the boys were out. And when they had decided to start the rescue, they cleared the area around the entrance to the cave to allow for free access, but also, I suspect, to ensure a minimum of speculation and spectacle in the effort to be first with “breaking news.”

This is a fascinating story, full of lessons – there are many more, I am sure. I strongly recommend that you share the documentary with your team and convene a session to glean lessons that you can use to make for more effective implementation of projects and initiatives.

And there’s another lesson – it seems that one very important factor in the boys being found alive was that their coach, a Buddhist monk, had taught them meditation to keep them calm and minimise the expenditure of energy and oxygen. Which certainly makes the case for us all to learn and practice meditation.