Thor Heyerdahl had a theory that was plausible and comprehensible to him.

So, what should we focus for our expeditions by looking on Thor Heyerdahls story?Īn expedition or a project that is to be successful in the end needs not only a goal and the knowledge of how to get there, but rather the reason why we do what we do. It's more about the people, the leader and the team, who strives to achieve the certain goal of the discovery journey. So, what can we learn from the story of Thor Heydahl, Knut Haugland, Bengt Danielsson, Herman Watzinger, Torstein Raaby and Erik Hesselberg for Team & Leadership?Īn expedition needs more than just a plan, the financial means to realize it and a scientific basis. With a raft made of balsa wood, named like an ancient sun god of the indigenous peoples - equipped with a small hut, a rudder, a sail mast and huge quantities of coconuts - he and his five companions set sail on 28 April 1947.Īfter 101 days on the Pacific, the team reached the polynesian shores with their balsa raft, the 'Kon-Tiki'. Thor Heyerdahl, an explorer and zoologist born in Norway in 1914, had developed a theory of the discovery of the Polynesian islands from the west, South America, that fundamentally contradicted the scientific findings at that time.īecause of his conviction and the rejection of his theses by the scientific world at that time, he decided to set out with a small team of the most diverse personalities to prove that the indigenous peoples had mastered the long sea route from Peru to Polynesia with the simplest of means. In 1947, a team of six men and a parrot set out on a long, unknown and uncertain journey across the Pacific - from Peru to the Polynesian Islands. A great story about Discovery, Team and Leadership

Kon tiki by thor heyerdahl