Thai Cave Rescue: Lessons for Lankan corporates
Light at the end of the tunnel was made a reality at the flooded ‘Tham Luang’ Cave Rescue thanks to timely, human bravery on July 10.
“We are not sure if this is a miracle, a science or what,” stated the Thai Navy SEALS after saving the ‘Wild Boars’ soccer team. Rallying about 10,000 professionals from 15 countries to rescue 13 unsung lads in 18 days mission is a phenomenal exercise in any yardstick.
Who would have thought that just 13 lads embarking on a day-outing could escalate to a global attention grabber? Who would have thought just 13 lives from an Asian country could stir the world so intensely? Pre-readiness and swift response saved the day for Thailand – and the mission is now regarded as one of the most complex non-combat rescue in recorded history.
Just like hell broking loose at a flash-flooded cave, a calm corporate setting in a pleasant morning can turn out to be mayhem by mid-day. In that sense, the cave rescue offers us remarkable readiness lessons on ensuring corporate contingency readiness. The relevance for us here is not where it happened, but the wholesome learning gifted by this episode. There are numerous positives, neutrals and negatives that we can secure from it to lead better organised business outfits.
Territory catch-22:
Expedition into the cave was merely treading into an uncertain terrain plagued with a changing climatic ambiance. A smooth plodding can change fast to a turbulent swing out of the blue. If you picture the market as the complicated cave, and your enterprise as the dynamic ‘Team Wild Boars’ on revenue exploration, owing to internal business factors or diverse external factors – a business can suddenly plunge into volatility – thus demanding the launch of a swift but organised (business) rescue mission.
Entrepreneurial volatility can be generated by business, political, social, safety, fire, security or natural contingencies. It could be a complex fiscal crisis, organised brand-defamation drive, vital information breach or volumes of customer deaths in a corporate fire for instance. If not properly identified, responded and contained within digestive magnitudes, all of them can badly shake the bottom-line yield, growth objectives and enterprise sustainability. Some calamities kill only your business, and there are other calamities that can kill both you and your business – therefore deadly.
Decision-making:
How Thai administration and countries across the globe mustered a rapidly coordinated mechanism to save those young lives was incredible.
Rapid decision-making in a calamity is crucial to inject some method to madness. It’s not about aiming at handbook precision but seeking situational precision. There are many critical strategic and operational decision-making in such a quick response process. Thus, it requires that those at the reins are conversant of ground realities to take practical decisions that are ‘right at once’ on the run.
Crisis leaders at all levels should comprehend their role beforehand so that they are making accurate situational decisions without wasting precious seconds for verifications. We cannot effectively make pragmatic decisions in a tough situation like aliens just landed at a crash site.
Team-in-action:
Mourners attend the funeral of a former Thai navy diver, Samarn Kunan, who died during the rescue mission for the 12 boys of the “Wild Boars” soccer team and their coach, near the Tham Luang cave complex, in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
In the cave episode, predominantly there were two teams. One was the team that was trapped and the other was the team that responded. Both teams were under severe discomfort, uncertainty, loss of energy, shrinking time window and fear of death. Given the odds, that’s super-heated pressure!
In a corporate calamity too, tension and stress are primary factors that need managing to minimise eventual panic. That’s why the knitted dynamics are essential for enterprise crisis teams performing under rough conditions. Whether it is strategic team or action team, the bonding – being, seeing, brainstorming and rehearsing it together – matters a great deal on the quality of outcome. What is required is ‘a robust team playing for each other’ while having confidence on mutual competencies.
Resource planning:
In the Thai cave rescue, you would have realised the level of pre-emergency resource planning that was gone into by respective administrations based on preparatory anticipation. The lesson there is that one cannot step on a procurement drive only after the emergency pops-out.
Enterprises should ensure that they operate their staff response teams, reinforcement teams, disaster recovery teams and business continuity teams supported by adequate budgeting, right leadership, correct apparatus, equipment and communication devices. The situational competencies for teams can be effectively achieved by action training and response testing simulations – both at strategic and operational layers. It needs to be a top-down approach so that the ‘overall readiness heat mapping’ can be enforced company-wide as a board initiative.
Never be unprepared:
‘Non quam non paratus’ – never be unprepared is what we learned as college cadets. It’s a slogan to remember at all times. The cave rescue episode re-validates the importance of structured readiness in whatever the business function we are engaged at. The time criticality, sometimes in precious seconds between life and death – can only be faced with this essential magic formula – READINESS!!
Your enterprise could be at micro, modest or macro status – yet volcanic corporate contingencies may happen and escalate to unimaginable altitudes in all tiers. Just 13 ordinary lads entrapped in an unsung cave stirred the world. With that thought in mind, now, look at your own human volume – staff, customers and guests. It surely is way beyond 13 lives. And look at your business worth. Surely it’s too big to lose. Thus, when roaming in the entrepreneurial caves; do ensure that the readiness rope is hooked-in and constantly kept on the check.
Be prepared! It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark!!
(The author is a foremost enterprise risk management specialist and a corporate risk trainer who serves as the CEO of Strategic Risk Solutions. He can be reached via eMail on solutions@sltnet.lk or via web www.solutions.lk)