Turn the Ship Around!

L. David Marquet

Overview: US Navy Captain (retired) L. David Marquet tells the story of his command with the USS Santa Fe, a nuclear-powered submarine. Having prepared to command one of the flagship submarines in the fleet, he was blindsided by being assigned to the Santa Fe, known as one of the worst ships for morale, retention, and performance. By going against tradition and textbook leadership-followership model tendencies, he created an environment (he calls the “leader-leader model”) whereby all crew members felt ownership in the mission of the ship. This book gives specific steps he used, and explains the philosophy behind the steps, that resulted in nearly every objective and subjective measure improving to among the top in the Navy. In short, Marquet gives the secrets to his success with practical lessons and discussions on organizational control, technical competency, and organizational clarity. The book is wonderful for a book study with short chapters each ending in questions to ponder the lessons of the chapter, and occasionally including practical exercises to get at the heart of the matter in the reader’s own organization.

• In Part 1, Starting Over, Marquet explains the personal and professional growth that influenced his psyche as he took command. In particular, he noted that Navy training led him to believe that top-down leadership was preferred, giving the captain total control of the ship. However, as a subordinate he felt underutilized and he observed others with low morale “going through the motions.” What other indications did Marquet have that the same old leadership model wasn’t going to fix the Santa Fe? Change comes with risk and Marquet realized a leadership model change on the Santa Fe would put his career at risk if it did not work. Why did he ultimately decide to act and to what ends?
• In Part 2, Control, Marquet seeks first to empower his senior enlisted technicians. Why did he feel this was the right level to influence first? Marquet also tells a story about perfectly annotated maps but they were irrelevant because they did not align with the mission, a lesson about being wed to old processes. Are we focused on processes or mission effectiveness on a daily basis?
• In Part 3, Competence, Marquet goes against tradition and his advisors’ recommendations and excuses a sailor, without punishment, for an absent-minded mistake. What was Marquet’s reasoning behind this and how did he ultimately succeed in minimizing absent-minded mistakes throughout his ship? Marquet also created a continuous learning environment on his ship in part by changing the more passive briefings to more active certification challenges. How did espousing “we learn” as a core philosophy of the ship improve the crew’s effort and behavior?
• In Part 4, Clarity, Marquet gives several examples of how to ensure personnel in an organization are aligned to work toward the same ends. In one story he explains how he awarded a Navy Achievement Medal only moments after a sailor took action to save the ship from running into an obstacle. Immediate reward, rather than waiting for the bureaucratic paperwork, is a quick way to thank an individual for upholding organizational values and to reinforce those values among all team members. Is our reward system reinforcing what we value? What kind of immediate rewards can we give to purposefully improve our organization? Additionally, Marquet tells about nearly creating a training disaster with Navy SEALs because for a moment he fell back to a top-down leadership model. His efforts to create a “leader-leader” leadership model were so effective at creating a mission-focused environment, that a very junior crew member (rightfully) verbalized disagreement with his order in a near emergency. Is every member of our team properly mission-focused and sufficiently empowered to speak truth to power when the mission could be impacted?