As a scrum master with the Network automation team, I am always on the lookout for something I can share with my teams. Sometimes it comes from unexpected quarters. Such is the case with the latest book that I read, Turn the Ship Around!, by David Marquet. Marquet was the captain of the USS Santa Fe, a Los Angeles class fast attack nuclear-powered submarine which was the laughingstock of the Navy. Marquet took the ship from worst to first by turning traditional command and control leadership on its head. He called his leadership approach Leader-Leader, but I like to think of it as Agile done well. Marquet breaks down his approach into three pillars: Control, Competence, and Clarity.
Marquet says to move control to where the information resides. In the world of Agile, we would say that the team is empowered to make decisions. The term “empowerment” is a term that Marquet dislikes. His view is that all humans are naturally empowered and that leaders simply need to remove the processes meant to exert control. What does that empowerment look like? Marquet offers some helpful advice:
This last point deserves some explanation. On the USS Santa Fe whenever a crewman wanted to put in for PTO, the crewman would fill out a “chit” request, which was then routed through multiple layers of command. More often than not, the request would sit in someone’s in-basket for months. Yes, even on a nuclear submarine bureaucracy is alive and well.
Rewrite your organizational DNA
Marquet decided to amend the Navy operations manual and strike out the paragraph that said executive officers had to approve chit requests and changed it to the crewman’s superior. A one-word change in the operations manual changed the organizational DNA. “In command for less than a day,” Marquet writes, “and I have already exceeded my authority.”
When Marquet uses the term competence, he means, “Is it safe?” A nuclear submarine is a complex and dangerous war weapon. It is not enough to give control; you must be sure that your team has the competence to succeed. Marquet offers a helpful checklist to engender competence:
Let’s take a closer look at this last item. Marquet provides an illustration of the chief reading from the manual just prior to a drill. But when the drill occurred, the crewmen made mistakes. People took wrong actions, and it took too long to correct the problems. “What happened?” Marquet asks. “The chief “briefed the procedure” But, the crewmen pointed out that no one listens to the briefings. Marquet adds that the action is to certify not brief. Briefings are passive for everyone but the person doing the briefing. There is no responsibility for preparation or study.
The opposite of briefing is certification. During a certification the person in charge of a team asks questions. At the end of the certification a decision is made whether to proceed. This engages every team member and requires every team member to study and be prepared before the operation. When people know that they will be asked questions, they prepare ahead of time.
The third pillar is clarity of purpose. As an organization, we need to know the big picture and what we’re trying to accomplish. On a recent project I asked one of the company executives to speak to our team. Many of the team members were new and were not aware of the team history or how our piece of work fit into the bigger picture. The talk helped our team reaffirm our purpose and gave importance to our work. What does clarity in action look like? Marquet offers these mechanisms to convey clarity:
While passing through the shallow waters of the Strait of Malacca, the ship almost collided with a large barge. The quick action of a petty officer saved the ship from certain collision. Immediately, Marquet pinned a Navy achievement medal on the young man. Administrative paperwork can get in the way of recognizing desired behavior. If your reward system pits one person against another, then you’re destroying collaboration. Rewards reinforce clarity of purpose.
Establish principles that will guide your organization when faced with a difficult situation. As I read through the principles that Marquet put forth for his crew, I couldn’t help but think how closely these 11 principles align with the 12 Agile principles:
The biggest surprise for me was that not only could Agile work in a traditional command and control life-and-death environment such as a Navy attack submarine, but that it worked too well. So much for the naysayers who say that Agile can’t work here. Turn the Ship around is worth a read and worth your time. For an abbreviated recap, check out this YouTube summary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psAXMqxwol8
Does this all sound amazing? Want to know more about how Network to Code can help you do this, reach out to our sales team. If you want to help make this a reality for our clients, check out our careers page.
Share details about yourself & someone from our team will reach out to you ASAP!
