“If you want people to to think, give them intent, not instruction.” -David Marquet
Wise words from a man who created the greatest nuclear submarine operation since nuclear submarines have been a thing.
Dr Stephen Covey, just before his passing, wrote this about David Marquet in the Forward to Marquet’s book “Turn the Ship Around!”:
“I had the opportunity to ride the USS Santa Fe during Captain Marquet’s command tour and observed firsthand the impact of his leadership approach.. Never before had I observed such empowerment.“
High praise from someone who dedicated his life to the study of management and leadership!
What was Marquet’s secret? In Covey’s own words:
“He felt if he required them to own the problem and the solution to it, they would begin to view themselves as a vitally important link in the chain of command. He created a culture where those sailors had a real sense of adding value.”
The key to ownership for Marquet is “giving control”, which, he says, requires two pillars: competence and clarity. Competence in being able to take on the responsibility of the job and clarity in the intent behind it. If you want the 10 minute audio/visual distillation of the book, this is a great way to spend 10 minutes with a cuppa!
In a previous article I wrote about the ladder of maturity in the way a team deals with the challenges it faces – from being on the back foot and always being in firefighting mode to being on the front foot at full maturity.
Covey and Marquet both speak to two key elements in my model below on how to climb that ladder: Significance and Delegation.
Significance in that the challenges are meaningful and matter to the team, and Delegation in that the right level of freedom within constraints is given. At the intersection of those comes ownership. And ownership is where the magic begins.
