Inno-Versity Presents: "Greatness" by David Marquet

This Inno-Versity Inno-Mation was adapted from Captain David Marquet's talk on Greatness, and is based on his book, Turn the Ship Around!

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David Marquet, is a former submarine captain and author of the award-winning book Turn the Ship Around! In 2012 Fortune Magazine called it the "best how-to manual anywhere for managers on delegating, training, and driving flawless execution." He teaches graduate level leadership at Columbia University.

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 people just

follow the leader into disastrous

situations.

So I got my guys together I said "Hey we got a problem here".

I was trained for another submarine.

You're trained to do whatever nonsense comes

out of my mouth.

"That's right cap". I mean they knew they

already knew I was pretty much talking

to myself.

So then what we're going to do?

What we could do guys? And we talked

about it. Okay,what I really wanted to do

is get ready for the inspection, but

we're sitting in the wardroom.we spent a

couple hours we're talking about it

and I came up with all these different

things and well.You captain you just got

to be smarter you got to give better

orders, like well how I'm going to learn

a whole nuclear submarine miles of

valves and pipes that's when I spent a

year learning Olympia two weeks over

here. I mean so okay so in a year we'll

be safe? That's not going to work.We had

to deploy the submarine in six months.So

we talked about it, and they said okay

there's only one logical solution.We

figured it out. You, they're pointing me,

you shut up .What do you need that's not

what captain's do that's not, what

captains of nuclear submarines ooh They

walk around they give orders

they sound like Russell Crowe head to

thursd I make it up 500 feet how I'm

left 15 degrees whether steady course

two five five load torpedoes and tubes

one two three and four slide 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 conscious

but mine. that was my moral and

ethical responsibility.But even though

everything else and the Navy there's

long lists of things that says. the
captain has to authorize ,captain should

authorize you got a couple nukes in your

group they'll tell you it's true captain

all three submerge the ship get underway

start up the reactor ,shut down the

reactor connect to shore power

divorcement shore power on and on break

rigvir 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 would

kind of hey what do you want to do? Well...

I left full rudder steady course two

five five no so 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 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 request permission to submerge

the ship's immersion ship's emergency by

on Santa Fe is captain I intend to

submerge the ship very well and they did

it and it might seem like a very small

nuance 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 actually won another

step then I got smarter and I said when

that when the officers the 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

hard to tell I'm guessing you're

wondering whether it's safe bingo I said

welcome it's me it's safe as a captain I

intend to summer ship

all men are below hatches are shut

ship's rig for dive I check the bottom

depth ship the submarines in the water

that's been assigned to us then I was

and 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 that

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

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 it's a

pretty sucker to go in the engine room

find the engine room lower level watch

it was taking logs in the lube oil pumps

and he would know what the submarine was

doing he would know whether we are

uptight close to the enemy it was time

to stay quiet or whether he 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 cabin it

was a dummy it's because that needle

move started moving up and on another

submarine there was one guy in charge

one guy giving orders one guy thinking

on 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 salesmen can this can close

the deal all up to $1,000

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 we're 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 less 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 will go back

to the old ways you will 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 will be the greatest

thing of all go forth and be great

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