01/07/2025
David Marquet became the Captain of the Santa Fe, the Navy's worst-performing submarine. Marquet knew very little about this sub because he was initially selected to captain the USS Olympia, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, which he studied for over a year. During a simple drill to simulate a fault with the sub-reactor, Captain Marquet ordered, “ahead two-thirds.” The officer on deck repeated the order, “Ahead two-thirds.”
Nothing happened.
Captain Marquet noticed the helmsman looking very unsettled. Marquet asked, "What's the problem?" the helmsman pointed out that there were no two-thirds in the electric propulsion mode, unlike all his previous submarines. The officer was asked, “did you know there were no two-thirds?” the officer responded, “yes,” but repeated the command, knowing it was wrong.
Now, Captain Marquet did not have the luxury of changing his crew, unlike what typically takes place in most business organizations. Captain Marquet realized that the leader-follower environment his team has grown accustomed to failed, and if he had any chance to turn around the performance of this sub, the environment must change.
Marquet began treating his crew as leaders, giving rather than taking control. He changed the environment, and not long after, the Santa Fe went from the Navy's worst-performing submarine to the best navel sub in its history. As leaders, when you get the environment right, great things can happen because it’s never the people; it’s the environment.
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