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On August 5, 2010, at 2 p.m., the access tunnel of the San José copper and gold mine collapses. The mine lies 45 kilometers north of Copiapó in the Atacama Desert. Thirty-three miners are trapped about 700 meters underground. No one on the surface knows whether they are alive. No one below knows whether anyone is looking for them. An example of the Team Principle of Direction.
17 Days on Three Days’ Rations
Situation
Shift supervisor Luis Urzúa, 54, gathers the men in the refuge. The emergency rations are meant to last two to three days. The group stretches them to more than two weeks. Decisions are made by vote. Luis Urzúa later said, in essence, that with 33 men, 16 plus one made a majority.
Connection to the team principle
The goal is simple and the same for everyone: all of them must survive until help arrives. Anyone who rations puts the group ahead of their own hunger. That is the second half of the principle in its harshest form. The way they get there is remarkable, too: the shift supervisor does not simply give orders. The group decides together – and therefore carries the decision together.
Everyone Gets a Job
Situation
The men divide up roles. José Henríquez, 54, leads daily prayers. Yonni Barrios, 50, looks after the sick. Mario Sepúlveda, 40, becomes the group’s spokesman. The youngest, Jimmy Sánchez, 19, checks the air every day. On August 22, 17 days after the collapse, a note is found attached to a drill bit: all 33 are safe in the refuge. After that, food and mail are sent down through narrow boreholes in capsules called “palomas” – doves.
Connection to the team principle
The roles grow out of the shared goal, not the other way around. None of these jobs was in anyone’s employment contract. Each one serves the survival of all. A goal that ranks above one’s own role does not abolish roles. It gives them their purpose.
Three Boreholes at Once
Situation
On the surface, President Sebastián Piñera and Mining Minister Laurence Golborne lead the operation. Three drilling efforts run at the same time – Plan A, Plan B and Plan C – with three different rigs. Those working on Plan B, which starts on August 26, include the company Geotec Boyles Bros., the US firm Layne Christensen with drillers Jeff Hart and Matt Staffel, and the hammer manufacturer Center Rock from Pennsylvania. The Collahuasi and Escondida mines provide drilling equipment. NASA advises on medical and psychological matters and helps design the rescue capsule. The capsule, Fénix 2, 54 centimeters in diameter, is built by the Chilean shipyard ASMAR. The state copper company Codelco covers about three quarters of the roughly 20 million dollars in costs.
Connection to the team principle
Companies that are normally competitors work together here, along with government agencies, a shipyard and a space agency. What makes them a team is not an org chart but the goal. Three plans at once also means that two of the three crews spend weeks working on a solution that in the end will not be needed. That only works if the goal matters more than whose borehole breaks through.
The Setback and the Breakthrough
Situation
On September 9, at a depth of 268 meters, the tip of Plan B’s drill hammer breaks off and blocks the hole. Drilling continues. On October 9, Plan B reaches the miners after 33 days of drilling. The hole is widened from 5½ to 28 inches.
Connection to the team principle
After a setback, a clear goal settles the question of whether to keep going. The 2011 meta-analysis by Ad Kleingeld, Heleen van Mierlo and Lidia Arends shows a relationship that fits: group goals raise group performance, and specific, difficult goals raise it more than vague ones. “Get all 33 out alive” is as specific and as difficult as a goal can be. The caveat belongs here too: the study shows that a shared goal helps – not that it is enough.
The Shift Supervisor Is the Last to Leave
Situation
On October 13, at 12:11 a.m., Florencio Ávalos, 31, is the first to reach the surface. The rescue takes 39 capsule trips. At 9:55 p.m., Luis Urzúa follows as the last man out. The men had been trapped for 69 days.
Connection to the team principle
The order at the end shows what “ranking above one’s own role” means. The shift supervisor does not use his position to get out sooner. His role ends only when the goal has been reached for everyone.
What Came Afterward
Situation
The story does not end with the celebrations. The operator, San Esteban, had racked up 42 safety violations between 2004 and 2010. The investigation closes in August 2013 without charges. Many of the rescued men later struggle with unemployment and psychological after-effects.
Connection to the team principle
A shared goal holds a team together for as long as the goal lasts. On October 13, 2010, it had been reached. What came after, each man largely had to cope with on his own. That does not diminish the rescue. But it shows that it is the goal that holds people together, not a shared past.
Key takeaways
Key Lessons
- Phrase the goal so that everyone can state it in one sentence and knows when it has been reached.
- Derive roles from the goal. Ask: what does the goal need – and who can provide it?
- Let the group make important decisions together when everyone has to live with the consequences.
- When the stakes are high, pursue several paths in parallel. Give credit, too, to those whose solution ends up not being needed.
- If you lead: be the last to leave. Your role is fulfilled only when the goal has been reached for everyone.
Summary
At the San José mine there were two teams: 33 men underground and the rescuers on the surface. Both were bound by the same goal. Below, it led to rationing, voting and new roles. Above, it brought competitors, government agencies and experts from several countries to three boreholes at once. The shift supervisor was the last to come out. This is what the Team Principle of Direction looks like when it counts – and the aftermath shows how much is missing once the shared goal falls away.
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