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If you want to learn good organization skills, look no further than some of the best leaders in the universe: the captains of spaceships. They may be fictional, but they have skills that translate into the real world. After all, you'd follow Admiral Adama into battle, and trust Malcolm Reynolds to have your back. Now you can learn the seven greatest leadership lessons we gleaned from watching shows like Futurama and Firefly.
1. The Prime Directive is just a suggestion. Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise wasn't as swashbuckling as he predecessor Captain James T. Kirk, simply because he actually wrestled with breaking the Prime Directive instead of ignoring it entirely. The Prime Directive states that humans shouldn't involve themselves in the affairs of less developed planets, for fear of messing up their cultures with ultra-advanced tech. While Picard often considers the importance of the Prime Directive in his decision-making, he refuses to be bound by it. Lesson learned? Rules are made to be broken.
2. Always shoot first. Every good leader should be willing to do what he or she asks of her team. One of the reasons for the loyalty of the ragtag crew of Serenity, the ship Malcolm Reynolds captains in Firefly, is that Mal will throw himself into battle to protect his team. Whenever he has a crazy scheme or rescue mission in mind, he takes the first plunge. Lesson learned? Show your crew that you're willing to take a bullet for them, and they'll do the same for you.
3. Don't be afraid to hook up with a cute spaceman. We love Leela on Futurama not just because she's the only person on her ship with any kind of sense, but because she also lets her long, purple hair down once in a while. She's always tangling with spacemen and getting mixed up with strange alien pets. And that's one good reason why her goofy crew would follow her to the ends of the galaxy — well, if she had enough beer. Lesson learned? A good leader has to get laid once in a while, and she shouldn't be ashamed of it.
4. When you're about to go genocidal, get a second opinion. Admiral William Adama from the new Battlestar Galactica is one of the best leaders we've ever seen. He's gotten a group of a few thousand humans halfway across the galaxy, despite the fact that they're being pursuit by a group of homicidal, erotically obsessed cyborgs. He's had to deal with incredible loss and sheer terror, and he always keeps his head. He is also truly humane. How does he keep it together without going all Admiral Cain on everybody's ass? By sharing his power with President Roslyn as well as his circle of trusted officers and advisers. Without their guidance, the Galactica and its fleet might have turned into a bloodthirsty military fleet, instead of what it is: a mostly-civilian group with a (sort of) free press and even elections. Lesson learned? True leaders do not ever make decisions alone.
5. Just because you have a crappy ship doesn't mean you're a loser. Everyone knows that Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, is piloting a souped-up bucket. And yet his seemingly-crappy ship is probably the very best thing for helping out a group of covert resistance fighters like Obi Wan and Luke. Plus, he knows his ship so well that he can totally slam those Stormtroopers in their McFighters. Lesson learned? Every crappy PC is a lean, mean Linux box waiting to be born. Oh, and in case that didn't make sense: It's not the tools; it's what you do with them.
6. Freedom fighters make good teammates. Say what you will about Captain Janeway on Voyager, but she made a smart decision early on to integrate her Federation team with a group of subversive Maquis who got stuck with them out in the Delta Quadrant. Another captain might have kept the Maquis separate from the Federation types, but Janeway integrated them and gave them Federation ranks — much to her good fortune. She got a great Chief Engineer and First Officer out of the deal. Lesson learned? A little subversion goes a long way.
7. There is always somebody out there who can bend spacetime better than you can. In Iain M. Banks' novel Excession, the Ship Sleeper Service (which is an AI that captains itself, thank you very much) discovers that its amazing, human-dwarfing brain is nothing compared to the "excession," a phenomenon that none of the Ships can understand. The excession exists in subspace, and looks like a giant something that could be a gateway to another dimension, perhaps, or a ship from the edges of the universe. Meeting the excession, for the Ships, is a very humbling experience. They realize that they are not as omnipotent as they realized, that that there are intelligences out there far more profound than their own. Lesson learned? No matter how in control you are, always be ready for something for which you're completely unprepared.
Comments
Awesome Culture reference!
@horseloverfat: I love Excession. One of the best Culture novels.
Though a different point, the lesson in #7 reminds me of a Frank Herbert quote:
"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic."
Whoah whoah whoah... badmouthing the Falcon? A ship that did the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs? A Bucket? Not cool.
What about Morpheus in the Matrix, or doesn't "inner" space count? I'd follow a leader who asked the right questions, or encouraged me to do the same. Not sure about that whole red/blue pill thing though....
[www.the-happy-manager.com]
@Garrison Dean: I agree. It's not really a "souped-up bucket" as much as an old hotrod in need of repair. Used to be the top of the line, still pretty good, but needs more maintenance and love than you have money to put into right now.
@the-happy-manager: Oh, good point! Actually, I think taking the red pill is a sign of a good leader -- wanting to see reality rather than the illusion.
@Garrison Dean: Ha! It's a beautiful bucket that is super awesome, OK? Just like my beatup old laptop running Linux is lovely.
@Garrison Dean: ]
It wasn't just called a souped up bucket!
The falcon is the YT-1300 of my dreams!
And why, pray tell, is Arnold Judas Rimmer, nominal commander of starship Red Dwarf (even if he is in fact dead)not mentioned? For shame! We all have many things to learn from him, such as ...er....um...ah...
@Annalee Newitz: Thats a little better. Solo has a lot on his plate, what with avoiding imperial entaglements, Jabba, the bounty on his head, romancing princesses, shooting Greedo first... sorry if the guy can't run by Watto's for a tune up. And really don't apologize to me... Chewey is the one who'll rip your arms off if you offend him.
@Spiral: Sure, but is it a model that started out really excellent? My impression was that Han had modded it from a rather bland model.
Thanks for not dissing Janeway like everyone else. Sure, she went on a few too many away missions herself, but she was still a really good captain for not having a penis.
The headline for this post makes me giggle.
@ Garrison Dean
She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts.
Unashamed?
"Nice try, Leela, but we've all seen Zapp Brannigan's webpage."
Where else would you find folks discussing the weaknesses of a MOVIE space ship...sigh
@Garrison Dean:
funny thing about a parsec: its a unit of distance, not time. 3.262 Light years...
Another lesson from Firefly - even if your project gets cancelled (*sob*) if it's great code your users will stick with you. *g*
*waves hello from Lifehacker Australia edition*
I see we're totally ignoring Robotech because it's a cartoon.
name one other captain that can stair down 4 million ships loaded with 50 foot tall blood thirsty all the while keeping a city of 80,000 from going insane. by the way did i mention that his ship was crippled?
@danger_the_pirate: so han solo managed to shorten the actual distance of two points or was Lucas an idiot?
If people want you to lead, do it. You might believe you aren't a leader, buy you're not always the best judge that.
And yes, you DO have to make decisions alone. By all means seek advice and try to build consensus, but final decision is yours.
@B1663R: Yay Robotech captain! Definitely not trying to ignore anime -- just don't remember the show well enough to draw a lesson from it.
@B1663R: To make the Kessel Run you have to fly dangerously close to The Maw, a cluster of black holes, and try not to get pulled out of hyperspace by (or sucked into) their gravity wells. The closer a ship is able to fly, the shorter the distance it travels.
@horseloverfat: awesome Valis reference.
Darth Vader was able to inspire troops to 'stay the course' on the death star.
hey let's get some Space GTD in the white house - support Adama in '08"
[www.adamaforpresident.org]
7 reminds me of that one Outer Limits episode where the ships are sentient, and they mate humans so as to keep a single repair man/woman around like a slave.
Lesson Learned (from many shows), Humans will always fuck your shit up for love/sex.
@njudahchronicles: ... As a loyal supporter of the Cthulhu '08 Campaign, I must now eat your skin while boiling your brains in a broth of your own blood seasoned in cinnamon.
Another good one from Star Wars: Do not put your ship in the pot when gambling. It doesn't matter how good you are, it's stupid. Seems like that one should go without saying. As for the parsecs, I think that the idea was that he shaved distance off of the run by going dangerously close to The Maw. That allowed him to make the time that he did because he was basically going full-throttle the entire time. That's why the distance was noteworthy.
Just want to say this is the best post title in the history of the Internet.
The Sleeper Service, in Excession, is a Mind, not an AI. An AI is to a Mind what a 20th century Earthakin calculator is to a Cray super computer.
@Annalee Newitz: I just read that one the other day.
"Out of Context Problem" is my new favorite descriptor.
@Spiral: Funny you mention this line. I've been rereading Dune and just read this particular line last night.
I think the best lesson is Mal Reynolds' "love keeps her in the air, love makes her a home".
That, plus:
"Why'd you come back for me?"
"You're on my crew."
"Yah. But you don't even like me."
"You're ON my CREW. Why are we still talking about this?"
My favorite spaceship captain was Henry J Gloval from Macross (though I watched the English version as a kid). His mustache was twice as cool as Adama's symbolic caterpillar, and the superfriends-style narrator that described his every action trumps trumps Morgan Freeman in my mind as an archetype of masculinity.
The tag "GTD in Space" completely rocks my world.
"Out of Context Problem" (OCP), or what I call a Potential. Annalee, if you were (maybe you are)a sf writer, what would you call it? I'm always looking for nominclature that I can use. But one wants to be somewhat original from time to time. It's hard. I've given up to some extent. I mean, what can you call FTL travel that hasn't been used before? (the answer is not Virgin FTL)
Lesson number 8
Do your job no matter what it is and adventure and praise will follow. Well, adventure anyway...
Captian Adam Quark,
United Galaxies Sanitation Patrol Cruiser
My rule, obey your orders or face the Bright Slap!
Well the lesson for Robotech is : If the odds are against you, load everything up with Reflex missiles and warheads, and ram into the largest enemy ship. Then blow everything up.
Re #6: Freedom fighters make good teammates
I think the subtitle should be more like: Defeat your enemies by making them allies (Is this something from Sun Tsu?)
I've always liked Janeway. She's no-nonsense, and knows how to delegate things that she doesn't have to keep a direct hand in. Kirk spent too much time on-planet (the better to meet the exotic ladies, I suppose), which showed a lack of confidence in Spock and McCoy.
Now that I think of it, he was probably well justified.
While not full-time captains, Delenn and Ivanova in B5 proved the intimidating speech could do just as much damage as a battery of guns.
"This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari. Babylon 5 is under our protection. Withdraw or be destroyed."
"Negative. We have authorite here. Do not force us to engage your ship."
"Why not? Only one Human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere else!"
"Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova. Commander. Daughter of Andrei and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am death incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me."
My fav captain has to be Zap Branigan, while in charge of the Titanic. Pefect sense of responsibility.
@gothfae: "Who am I? I am Susan Ivanova. Commander. Daughter of Andrei and Sophie Ivanov. I am the right hand of vengeance, and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am death incarnate, and the last living thing that you are ever going to see. God sent me."
Thank you! What a wonderful Ivanova quote. It has made my week! :)
@Jeff-Minor: Bad news, the Cray supercomputer isn't so super anymore, your PS3 can pretty much outwit it.
@annalee:
These are the four I can think of from the Robotech series:
Listen to your subordinates ideas.
When all else fails, improvise.
Don't be afraid to take big risks.
When you can't beat your enemy, try subverting them to your side.
Ignoring the obvious inanity of this whole exercise - debating the merits of dweeb sci-fi characters ("Worf could kick Chewbacca's ass!"), this post is WAY off base.
Real ship Captains have one reality in common that these characters always, by necessity of entertaining, ignore. A real captain's does pretty close to nothing. Well, nothing in terms of actively participating in the normal operation of the ship.
A captain is the ultimate delegator. His/Her job is strategic. He creates the plan, he sets the goals, he establishes the rules. Then he tells his officers to get it done, who then tell their subordinates to get it done. The Captain communicates the mission. The First Officer makes sure it gets done. The Chief of Operations implements the plan.
Perhaps the most important part of a ship's culture is military discipline. Everyone has a job to do, and they do it. No one else. It's the captain's job to give the orders, not execute them.
One of the most difficult exercises I ever did took place in a Coast Guard simulator. I was in charge of the bridge. My job was to tell everyone else what to do. Heading, speed, check course and location, who/what/when to radio communications. It was a killer. I had to make sure I made every clear, and then stand there let the crew do their job. The natural urge is to do things yourself, but I couldn't do anything except ask questions and give orders. A captain's job is two levels higher than that.
Simplified, the captain is the CEO. The CEO doesn't type memos. he doesn't crunch data. He doesn't make ad buys. He really doesn't do anything except make (grand) strategic decisions, and communicate it to the people responsible.
And if he gets caught making out with some blue-skinned alien the board will get rid of him.
@gothfae: Ivanova is so badass. It makes me hot.