I paid attention to the Tham Luang Cave Rescue in 2018, not only because it was in Thailand, but also because of my background in both emergency response and in logistics (which was a major consideration in the rescue operation). I used this as a white board exercise in my supply chain and logistics classes as a professor. And a regular reminder for me is that I use the Saman WOD (created by Crossfit Chamgmai), which memorials Saman Kunan, a Thai Navy SEAL who died in the line of duty during the rescue, annually as my birthday WOD.
Thirteen Lives is a documentary style movie about the rescue, told from the perspective of the cave rescue team. With the access and active participation of the cave rescue team, it goes deep into the decision making and ethical dilemmas that those who were responsible had to address.
The choices in the cave rescue are well documented. There was the local team, the Thai Navy SEALS. Well motivated and trained, with the logistics planning expertise of a U.S. special forces unit to back them up. But, their training and expertise where not in the hyperspecialized setting of cave rescue that they found themselves in.
The choices of the cave rescue divers was also well documented. The need to work within the local system, which meant both the Thai civil and Thai military authorities (who were competing with each other in the way things things go anywhere in the world). The difficulties in just finding the team in the dark and flooded caves, then planning out how the boys would be brought out of the cave, with the host of ethical dilemmas that various aspects of that operation entailed.
But Thirteen Lives presents a profile in courage in the person of the governor. Thirteen Lives presents him as a governor who is in his last days, and implies that it was not a glorious send off. And that he was the apparent designated fall guy if things went wrong (with the foreign cave rescue divers being not too far behind, but that is a story that everyone is happy not to have to tell).
The first choice he was presented with was to work with the foreign cave rescue divers while in the presence of the Thai Navy and SEALS who were eager to do the job. On one hand, a provincial governor recognized that high profile foreigners dying looks bad to the Thais (who would be suspected of using amateurs and admitting lack of confidence). On the other hand, the loss of one of the Thai divers in the rescue was an indicator of just how dangerous and difficult this was. Further tough choices came when the boys were found, and the cave rescue team provided very honest assessments on the options they had and their chances of success (noone thought their odds were good, and almost guaranteed fatalities). And as the senior authority, he had to give the yes or no every step of the way.
But the most telling illustration of leadership in action was when the hydrology people explained what was happening with the rain on top of the mountain. That water was seeping into the mountain and into the cave system (which is what happens in all mountains, this seeping happens in the hills leading into my backyard). And that it could be possible to divert the water falling on the mountain so that it did not go into the cave system. But "there was a price". The water had to be diverted somewhere. So the governor had to go to the villagers to ask to flood their fields in the name of a rescue effort that noone knew if it would succeed. So the villagers are private citizens, and there is no law that says that the governor can order them to take the damage, and certainly not for a mere chance of 13 lives (compared to the ruination of the villages that would be a guarantee) So, with no time, he has to persuade the villagers to do this, with only promises that he will try to make things right in the end, succeed or fail (and remember, he is leaving his position when all this is over) And this is the result of trust and leadership gained over time.
There are many images of leadership. An alternative is to cut your loses and avoid the possibility of things that don't look good. Which often leads to loosing everything for no gain. And that was the alternative provided to this governor. But leadership is shown when you are willing to make difficult decisions. And convince people that it is everyone's best interest that they sacrifice, on nothing more than a promise that they will all gain in the end. If not materially, then spiritually. And Thirteen Lives tries to show this in a very real way.
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