MindSpring Presents: "Greatness" by David Marquet
Summary
TLDRThe speaker, a former submarine captain, shares a transformative leadership philosophy. He emphasizes the importance of shifting from traditional authoritative orders to a model that fosters initiative and critical thinking among crew members. By giving intent rather than instructions, he empowered his team to make informed decisions, leading to exceptional performance and a culture of proactive, creative problem-solving. This approach not only improved operational efficiency but also instilled a sense of ownership and responsibility in every team member, ultimately achieving greatness through collective effort.
Takeaways
- 🛠️ Leadership involves more than just giving orders; it requires fostering an environment where team members can think critically and take initiative.
- 🔄 The speaker emphasizes the importance of shifting from a command-and-control style to one that empowers subordinates with decision-making authority.
- 🚀 In the context of a nuclear submarine, the captain's role is redefined to focus on setting intent and moral responsibility for critical actions, such as launching weapons.
- 🤔 The concept of 'intent' is introduced as a method to encourage proactive thinking and problem-solving among crew members, rather than relying on direct instructions.
- 💡 Technical competence and organizational clarity are identified as the two pillars necessary for successfully empowering team members to make decisions.
- 📊 The script illustrates the impact of this leadership style through the story of a submarine crew that achieved the highest inspection grade ever seen due to empowered decision-making.
- 🌐 The idea of moving authority to where the information is, allowing those with the most relevant knowledge to make decisions, is presented as a key strategy for organizational success.
- 🚧 The process of implementing this leadership style is described as challenging and requiring persistence, as it goes against traditional command structures.
- 🌟 The ultimate goal is to create an environment where everyone can achieve greatness, not just the leader, by enabling them to take initiative and make meaningful contributions.
- 🛑 The script highlights the importance of the final decision-maker retaining responsibility for critical actions, such as launching a weapon, to ensure moral and ethical considerations are upheld.
- 🔑 Empowering team members with decision-making authority not only improves operational efficiency but also instills a sense of importance and ownership in their roles.
Q & A
What was the main issue the speaker faced with his crew on the submarine?
-The main issue was that the crew was trained to follow orders without questioning, which could lead to disastrous situations if the orders were not correct or sensible.
What did the speaker realize about his own training and how did he address it?
-The speaker realized he was trained for a different submarine and was giving orders without full knowledge, so he decided to stop giving orders and instead focus on providing intent to his crew.
What is the concept of 'intent' as described by the speaker?
-Intent is about communicating the overall goal or objective rather than giving specific instructions, allowing the crew to think critically and make decisions based on the situation at hand.
Why did the speaker decide to retain the final order to launch a weapon?
-The speaker felt that the responsibility for a decision that could result in the deaths of other human beings should be his alone, not on anyone else's conscience.
What were the two pillars the speaker mentioned as necessary for giving control to the crew?
-The two pillars are technical competence, ensuring it is safe to perform an action, and organizational clarity, ensuring the action aligns with the mission and is the right thing to do.
How did the speaker change the dynamic of command on his submarine?
-The speaker shifted from giving direct orders to asking questions that prompted his crew to think and justify their actions, fostering a culture of initiative and proactive decision-making.
What was the outcome of the inspection after the speaker implemented his new approach?
-The inspection team gave the speaker's submarine the highest grade they had ever seen, reflecting the effectiveness of the crew's new approach to decision-making and operation.
How did the speaker's approach affect the crew's performance and morale?
-The crew became more engaged, thinking actively and taking initiative, which not only improved performance but also made them feel valued and significant in their roles.
What advice does the speaker give to leaders in other organizations?
-The speaker advises leaders to move authority to where the information is, allowing those with the most knowledge and context to make decisions, fostering a culture of leadership and innovation.
What challenge does the speaker anticipate leaders might face when adopting this approach?
-The challenge is the feeling that it is 'wrong' to give up control, as it goes against the traditional and cultural programming of leaders to take charge and make things happen.
What is the ultimate goal the speaker has for leaders who adopt this approach?
-The ultimate goal is to create an environment where people around the leader, including their families, schools, organizations, and businesses, can achieve greatness through empowered decision-making.
Outlines
🚢 Empowering Leadership: From Orders to Intent
The speaker, a former submarine captain, discusses the importance of shifting from a traditional command-and-control leadership style to one that empowers subordinates. He shares his experience of realizing the dangers of blindly following orders and how he changed his approach by engaging his crew in problem-solving. Instead of giving direct orders, he opted to communicate the overall intent, allowing his crew to think critically and make decisions based on the situation. This approach led to a more knowledgeable and proactive team, capable of handling complex tasks with greater autonomy.
🌟 Fostering a Culture of Responsibility and Initiative
This paragraph delves into the two fundamental pillars that support the idea of distributing control and authority within a team: technical competence and organizational clarity. The speaker emphasizes the need for team members to understand if their actions are safe and if they align with the organization's goals. By fostering an environment where individuals feel responsible for their decisions, the speaker achieved remarkable results, as evidenced by the highest inspection grade his submarine received. The narrative encourages leaders to move authority to where the information resides, enabling faster, better-informed decisions and creating a culture of initiative and creativity.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Submarine
💡Leadership
💡Authority
💡Orders
💡Intent
💡Technical Competence
💡Organizational Clarity
💡Proactive
💡Inspection
💡Empathy
💡Moral and Ethical Responsibility
💡Creativity
Highlights
Leadership is about avoiding the pitfalls of blind obedience and encouraging critical thinking among team members.
The importance of recognizing the potential for disastrous outcomes when individuals follow orders without question.
The speaker's realization of the need to change the approach to leadership on his submarine due to differing training and expectations.
The concept of 'intent' as a replacement for direct orders to foster independent thinking and decision-making among crew members.
The challenge of learning a new submarine system in a short time and the innovative solution to empower the crew with decision-making.
The moral and ethical responsibility of the captain in retaining the final decision to launch weapons.
The shift from giving instructions to providing intent to promote a culture of initiative and proactive behavior.
The psychological impact of shifting ownership of decisions to the crew, encouraging them to think critically and take responsibility.
The significance of technical competence and organizational clarity as foundational pillars for effective leadership and decision-making.
The transformation in the submarine's performance and the crew's mindset following the implementation of the new leadership approach.
The highest inspection grade ever seen as a testament to the effectiveness of the new leadership and decision-making model.
The contrast between a leadership style that centralizes decision-making and one that distributes authority and responsibility.
The empowerment of individuals to make decisions as if the CEO were standing behind them, fostering a sense of importance and accountability.
The cultural and psychological barriers to adopting a leadership style that gives control and creates leaders.
The personal struggle and the iterative process of learning to let go of traditional control and embrace a new leadership paradigm.
The ultimate goal of creating an environment where individuals, their families, and organizations can achieve greatness through empowered decision-making.
Transcripts
[Music]
i was trained for one submarine my guys
were trained to do what they were told
that's a deadly combination we all know
organizations where where people just
follow the leader into disastrous
situations
so i got my guys together and i said hey
we've got a problem here
i was trained for another submarine
you're trying to do whatever nonsense
comes out of my mouth
that's right captain i mean they knew
they already knew i was pretty much
talking to myself
so what we're gonna do what are we gonna
do guys and we talked about it okay what
i really wanted to do was get ready for
the inspection but we were sitting in
the wardrobe we spent a couple hours we
were talking about it and we came up
with all these different things and well
you captain you just got to be smarter
you got to give better orders it's like
well how am i going to learn a whole
nuclear summary miles and thousand pipes
that's when i spent a year learning
olympia two weeks over here how i mean
so okay so in a year we'll be safe
that's not gonna work we had to deploy
the submarine in six months
um
so we talked about it and they said okay
there's only one logical solution we
figured it out
you they're pointing at me you shut up
what do you mean that's not what
captains do that's not what captains of
nuclear submarines do they walk around
they give orders they sound like russell
crowe
head two thirds i make it up 500 feet
helm left 15 degrees wider steady course
two five five
low torpedoes and tubes one two three
and four flood down open outer doors
right
and i thought about it
and you know what they're right
so at that point i vowed never to give
another order
and if you came down to my submarine it
had been very confusing
because you couldn't have pointed
it had been hard to say well who who's
the captain here because you wouldn't
have seen me giving orders
i did retain one order the final order
to launch a weapon
a torpedo or a missile
i
i kept with me because i felt that
that was since that was going to result
in the deaths of other human beings
that i didn't want that on anyone's
conscience but but mine that was my
moral and ethical responsibility but
even though everything else in the navy
there's long lists of things that says
the captain has to authorize captains
should authorize you got a couple nukes
in your group they'll tell you it's true
captain authority submerge the ship get
underway start up the reactor shut down
the reactor connect to short power
divorce from shore power on and on break
rig for dive on and on and on pages of
these things i just refuse to give those
orders what we replaced it with was
intent
instead of giving instructions
if you want your people to think don't
give instructions give intent
so they become hey uh what do you want
me to do well
uh left full rudder steady course two
five five no
i said well what what are we trying to
accomplish here today well we're trying
to get in position so that when the
enemy submarine comes through okay so
where do you think we should position
the ship uh
maybe over here good idea go there
you give intent to them and they give
intent to you so my officer stopped
requesting permission and every other
submarine captain requests permission to
submerge the ship submerge the ship
submersion ship i
on the santa face captain i intend to
submerge the ship
very well
and they did it and it might seem like
it's a very small nuanced change of
language but it was hugely powerful
because the psychological ownership now
shifts to them
they need to discover the answer
otherwise you're always the answer man
you can never go home and eat dinner
and so we started doing this
and it was hugely powerful i actually
went another step
then i got smarter and i said when the
officer said captain i intend to
submerge the ship i would ask him well
is it what do you think i'm thinking
right now and he'd look at me
uh
hard to tell
i'm guessing you're wondering whether
it's safe bingo i said well convince me
it's safe it's a captain antenna
submersion ship all men are below
hatches are shut chips rigged for diver
check the bottom deck
ship the submarines in the water that's
been assigned to us
then i was then later i had asked him is
it the right thing to do
and they would say well yes sir because
our mission requires that we
and these are the two pillars that i
think support this idea
of giving control these are the two
pillars that need to be in place
the technical competence which is
represented by is it
safe
and the organizational clarity
which is represented by
is it the right thing to do and you put
those things in place
and then you can give control you give
control and you put those things in
place
and you are off to the races
so think about what's happening now my
officers are starting to think like me
because i have to think like where where
should we do the ship and so the guys
below them now this took this took
24 hours to happen
it took a couple years for the full
implementation but immediately there was
change
the officers are thinking like me so
pretty so i could go in the engine room
find the end's room lower level watch
who was taking logs in the lube oil
pumps
and he would know
what the submarine was doing he would
know whether we were up tight close to
the enemy it was time to stay quiet or
whether we had backed out a little bit
this may be a good time to change
filters and make a little bit of noise
a year later
we received another inspection
a year later we received an inspection
the inspecting team
gave us the highest grade they had ever
seen
not that year not in the pacific
ever seen
why i mean this crew had a captain it
was a dummy
it's because that needle
moves started moving up
and on another submarine there was one
guy in charge one guy giving orders one
guy thinking and 134 people doing what
they're told i don't care how smart you
are
on my submarine i got 135 thinking
active passionate creative
proactive taking initiative people
it's a tidal wave
you don't stand a chance
here's the solution
move the authority to where the
information is
you mean the software engineer can
decide whether we ship the software yeah
you mean
the client my salesman
can just can close the deal
well up to a thousand dollar no
yes
whatever the price yes
what does it take to make that happen
now if you're picturing a lot of people
out there doing crazy things and a bunch
of arrows going a bunch of different
directions you have the wrong picture
you crew you create the environment so
that those people are out there making
decisions as if the ceo were standing
right behind them and if it's not the
same decision it's actually a better
decision because they have the
information and not only will you get
better speed of execution because now
you don't have this delay what happens
is those people feel like they matter
because they're thinking you engender
thinking you create the environment for
thinking
the secret is
nothing is nothing i said is hard
there's nothing hard
the only thing that's hard is you it
will feel wrong you've been genetically
and culturally programmed to take charge
and make it happen
take take control and attract followers
and what you want is to give control and
create leaders
it will feel wrong and you will
repeatedly repeatedly
start down this path if you so choose
and then you'll be angry at yourself
like i was and you will have a failure
and you'll go back to the old ways
you'll pick yourself up and you will go
again you will go again
and by doing so
you will achieve the greatest thing
possible
you will have achieved greatness not
because of the deeds and acts that you
did but because you set an environment
where the people around you and their
families and their schools and their
organizations and their businesses
they've achieved greatness that would be
the greatest thing of all go forth and
be great
[Music]
you
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