When You Get The Environment Right, Great Things Happens, Here’s Why.

David Marquet became the Captain of the Santa Fe, the worst performing submarine in the history of the Navy. Marquet knew very little about this sub because he was initially selected to captain the USS Olympia, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, 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…