This movie contains great examples of how to lead people, especially in extreme circumstances. Captain Hawks reports aboard a ship with a terrible record and sets about getting it and its crew ready to fulfill its mission as an amphibious landing ship. At the same time, he starts them on a project of building him a small sailboat. It seems like madness but is really a bit of camouflage. While the sailors are going through the constant drills and the laborious work of repairing their ship, they also have to do work that contributes to the sailboat. The grousing turns from their regular work to the hated sailboat. Soon nobody grouses about anything except the sailboat. However, when they pull into their next liberty port, with their ship squared away and their drill times excellent, they watch proudly as the old man sails his new boat past the other ships lying at anchor there, their captains green with envy at Captain Hawks' new toy.
General Merrill McPeak did much the same thing with us when he was Air Force Chief of Staff. He kept us from grousing as much about the personnel drawdowns of the 90's by giving us a red herring to grouse about, namely a change to our uniforms. While the drawdowns were decimating our ranks, the thing you heard about the most was how people hated the new uniforms, how expensive they were, and how they made us all look like pilots for a commercial airline.
I've always remembered that red herring example. Once it sunk in, I started recognizing it in other places like Patton's infamous order about the wear of neckties. Patton knew his men would hate that order. He also knew it would give them something to grouse about that he could discard if it became enough of a problem and in the meantime, it kept their minds off the heat, the sand and their fear of the next battle.
Actually, for a movie about a boat that was not supposed to be a fighting craft, this is a pretty enjoyable piece of film. Jeff Chandler was magnificent. Richard Boone gives another of the solid performances that made him one of the most underrated actors who ever lived.
I highly recommend that you check this movie out, especially if you are in a leadership role where you work.
General Merrill McPeak did much the same thing with us when he was Air Force Chief of Staff. He kept us from grousing as much about the personnel drawdowns of the 90's by giving us a red herring to grouse about, namely a change to our uniforms. While the drawdowns were decimating our ranks, the thing you heard about the most was how people hated the new uniforms, how expensive they were, and how they made us all look like pilots for a commercial airline.
I've always remembered that red herring example. Once it sunk in, I started recognizing it in other places like Patton's infamous order about the wear of neckties. Patton knew his men would hate that order. He also knew it would give them something to grouse about that he could discard if it became enough of a problem and in the meantime, it kept their minds off the heat, the sand and their fear of the next battle.
Actually, for a movie about a boat that was not supposed to be a fighting craft, this is a pretty enjoyable piece of film. Jeff Chandler was magnificent. Richard Boone gives another of the solid performances that made him one of the most underrated actors who ever lived.
I highly recommend that you check this movie out, especially if you are in a leadership role where you work.