How do you turn the worst-performing ship with the lowest morale in the US Navy into a truly great crew? I really enjoyed Captain David Marquet’s talk on greatness & think it’s well worth 9 minutes of your time:
5 thoughts on “Animation: Smart thoughts on leadership”
I am retired now, but I worked for 37 years at Ford UK’s Research and Development (later called Product development) site in the UK. When I started, middle management positions we filled more by nepotism and Freemason membership than ability. The workforce was not allowed to think for itself — just told what to do and expected to get on with it. It was not a pleasant working environment.
Then along came serious competition from the new Japanese motor industry, and high management realised things had to change. They realised that they had to make better use of their employees, whose income was the company’s greatest outlay, and we gradually moved to exactly the model expressed in this animation. We got twice as much done with half the workforce, and it was a pleasure going to work. The dead wood was carved away, and middle managers became brilliant, free thinking people who listened to your ideas, and used them if they made sense.
I now live in New Zealand, and it saddens me to see how many industries are more like the UK of 40 or 50 years ago, because it’s a big world, and companies simply can’t compete and stay afloat with such antiquarian attitudes.
I am retired now, but I worked for 37 years at Ford UK’s Research and Development (later called Product development) site in the UK. When I started, middle management positions we filled more by nepotism and Freemason membership than ability. The workforce was not allowed to think for itself — just told what to do and expected to get on with it. It was not a pleasant working environment.
Then along came serious competition from the new Japanese motor industry, and high management realised things had to change. They realised that they had to make better use of their employees, whose income was the company’s greatest outlay, and we gradually moved to exactly the model expressed in this animation. We got twice as much done with half the workforce, and it was a pleasure going to work. The dead wood was carved away, and middle managers became brilliant, free thinking people who listened to your ideas, and used them if they made sense.
I now live in New Zealand, and it saddens me to see how many industries are more like the UK of 40 or 50 years ago, because it’s a big world, and companies simply can’t compete and stay afloat with such antiquarian attitudes.
Thanks for sharing.
Excellent stuff !
Brilliant presentation on what to do to be great!
That was AWESOME!!!! Thanks for sharing it!!!