Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Wacky Wednesday - Star Trek DS9

This week's Wacky post isn't too wacky, I'm afraid, but I didn't want to post it as my regular Thursday post and still thought it was worth sharing. If you've followed my blog since the beginning, you know that I am a little bit of a sci-fi nut (although I think I've kept the impact here to a minimum). With this year being the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, I found myself re-watching old episodes, and came across probably the strongest 3 minutes of Leadership Lessons in all of the Star Trek franchise.

In this episode (Rules of Engagement), Worf was in command of the Defiant, and fired on a de-cloaking vessel that he thought was a Klingon Bird of Prey. Instead it turned out to be a civilian transport. Worf is then put on trial for the destruction of a civilian vessel. He is eventually exonerated, and it was shown to be a Klingon plot.

Okay, now that the description is over (or you skipped it), here is the video:


In case you don't want to watch it, here are the lessons:

  1. Don't take command if you have an ulterior motive  - it can cloud your judgement and create risks.
  2. Verify before "pulling the trigger" - More pertinent in a war / battlefield, but also appropriate in the civilian world. Before you pull a trigger on something that has consequences, you should be absolutely sure on the target and on what the potential collateral is, whether it's bullets, bombs, or inappropriate banter. You will be the one held responsible.
  3. Sometimes you have to avoid the easy path to do the right thing - Along with the "pulling the trigger" lesson, a leader can't always pick the things that are right for himself / herself / team if it means sacrificing your morals and values. Some things are more important than safety.
  4. Sometimes, regardless of your feelings, you have to show a brave front - in this case it's a party to celebrate Worf's exoneration, but he would rather take time to process what's happened. The truth of the matter is that the party was for the crew, and Worf needed to put on a brave front for them. He can process on his own time, but not on team time! "Part of being a Captain is knowing when to smile, make the troops happy, even when it's the last thing in the world you want to do. Because they're your troops and you have to take care of them"
Worf sums it up nicely "Life is a good deal more complicated in this red uniform." That is Command


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