I was doing a dive safety stop holding with hand a box of 17th-century gold objects in my lap. The autumn weekend camp of the Finnish Nautical Archaeological Society was almost at the end. The event was preceded by a series of carefully considered work steps and tasks. Rarely do business things come to mind on these trips, but now, I mirrored the corporate world’s activities for our hobby during those three decompression minutes.
I didn’t work as a leader during the weekend camp, and not even as an expert. My role along the way was to perform assigned duties as a deckhand, coxswain, diver, compressor man, dishwasher, cook, and assistant. I have seen and experienced much as a business leader in different roles during my work career. Now I had the opportunity to observe the action from different angles.
The elephant in the porcelain shop project?
Some dive trips proceed in a formula that mirrors the corporate world. The captain heads the ship to the wreck. He will decide on the target and hopefully give a briefing if he even knows the target. The goal of the divers is personal. The top priority is to ensure your access to the destination first. At the destination, everyone rushes into the water like a swarm of sparrows. The flock roars in the wreck, trying to form an overall personal view, kicking each other, messing up visibility, accidentally kicking each other, fussing about their plan, and sometimes losing their dive buddy. After the dive, the experiences are personal. An essential task seems to update social media on something of your own making quickly. All this is crowned by another ship coming to the same destination with a similar working model. If the captain’s sense of direction was not correct, the sparrow flock did all of the above without finding the entire wreck. I’m sure that everyone has experienced at least one IT project that operates similarly.
Mission, Strategy, Goals, Values, Risks
The Finnish Marine Archaeological Camp activities are reminiscent of a professional company’s projects and activities with a relaxed but disciplined atmosphere.
The mission of the society is to promote marine archeological research, education, and hobbies in Finland. The goal is to support our underwater cultural heritage. We only have people interested in the topic who share common values and are involved in the activity. As a small company staff, everyone is willing to take responsibility and perform tasks on a large scale. They are multi-skilled who also have their areas of unique expertise.
For the autumn weekend camp, we had received an assignment from a researcher at The Finnish Heritage Agency to document the specified details of the Borstö I wreck under investigation. The latest information gives reason to doubt the origin of the vessel. Objectives are carefully explained to us by the supervising marine archaeologist. The list of open issues is clear and justified.
To achieve this, the team will review the best available documentation on the wreck and its components. After the group discussion, we agreed on a plan for how the goals can be achieved. The project split into phases. Each pair of dives gets a task and contributes to the project. After the dive, the diving couple interviewed, and the findings were recorded. Whether the planned tasks completed and how far, what is the situation at the bottom and in the wreck? The dive leader (maritime archaeologist) instructs the next divers based on the information received. The project will inevitably proceed in stages, in small steps to the final goal.
Diving accidents are one risk factor that should be eliminated as accurately as possible. Big problems start when several small things go wrong in a row. One aspect leads to another, which ultimately leads to an uncontrollable situation. Another risk factor is the violation of valuable cultural heritage unintentionally or with too rapid conclusions. Because of this, we don’t solo or try to bite too big a piece at a time. Just like in the corporate world, you cannot control the business environment. Excessive changes in several areas of operation at the same time increase the risks many times over. The situation leads to a sense of uncontrol, problems begin to pile up, resources run out, and an ongoing discussion about prioritization begins. The action has turned into a struggle for survival.
Our project is “agile,” but the dive leader has a great responsibility. Sea currents can clutter visibility, wind conditions change, and the site is challenging to work with, or equipment fails during operation. We are wearing underwater phones, but divers have limited maximum operative depth time. The diver works under pressure, and the decisions under stress are more limited. The conclusion from above sometimes has to be made quickly. If the leader has the first-hand experience of a similar situation underwater, it helps decision making. Compared to the corporate world, a dive leader has a more concrete responsibility for people’s health and spirit. The goal cannot be achieved by sacrificing staff. The decision to suspend must be able to be made if necessary.
As a result of the first day’s dives, signs of the illegal lifting of objects, and relocation observed, the dive leader (archaeologist) discusses the situation with the parties in charge. The original goal and plan of the project will have to be slightly modified. We get a refined goal that is allocated into diving pairs. The first task is to earn gold objects with a video image in their current environment. The next couple of divers mark items by placing numbered dipsticks (flags) on each object. The last pair of dives describes the whole thing once with video, and the other picks up the items in the collection container. Back to the guidewire and towards the surface happens immediately. The 1700 century gold objects are handed over to the National Board of Antiquities representatives and finally delivered to the conservator. We are a small but essential part of a larger whole.
It is rewarding to work in such activities. Situations change, but the leader and the team react quickly. Company values and safety operations are shared. Everyone does their part and more. The work is challenging but rewarding, and the motivation is high. When we started the company in 2000, I felt similar feelings despite financial uncertainty. In addition to my role as an expert, I cleaned my turn, made coffee, and did much more. The same sentiments are now again more concrete in my mind, thanks to the hobby. Let’s do it again.
Hannu Rokka, Senior advisor
5Feet Networks Oy