How does one ship go from a laughingstock to winning the Battle “E” in twelve months? (And then winning the next cycle.)
Imagine a car race between 14 Ford Mustangs. For eighteen months, they race around the same track. And, only one car wins.
The US Navy “race” is called the Battle Efficiency Award (the Battle “E”). For eighteen months, US Navy ships compete against other ships just like them. The ships are nearly identical; the officers and crews have similar levels of experience and expertise.
Each ship goes through a bunch of inspections (supply, gunnery, engineering, navigation, damage control, communication, etc.), in addition to assessments of operational readiness, responsiveness, administration and so on. At the end of eighteen months, a winner is selected based, in large measure, on these results.
One particular ship was the laughingstock of the waterfront. Not only had it recently failed a major engineering operational inspection, it took six separate attempts, over a two-week period, to successfully leave port for a five-day transit along the coast.
So how was it twelve months later, this ship won the Battle “E”?
Leadership – and it wasn’t the Commanding Officer. It was “TJ” – the new CHENG (CHief ENGineer).
He called the engineering department together and told us he knew how we could pass the re-inspection. He told us he’d successfully passed this inspection with six separate engineering departments. It would take hard work and long hours, and, if we did as instructed, we would pass.
He didn’t promise extra pay, extra time off, world peace, or the end of global warming. He treated us like adults – and we responded as adults.
Did we work hard? Oh, yeah.
Did we pass our next inspection? With one of the highest grades on record, at the time.
The momentum from that success carried on for the next three years.
When your organization is experiencing tough times, don’t be afraid to trust your people. Be honest with them. They’ll appreciate it, and you can expect they’ll work harder to ensure you (and they) succeed.