Lessons in Management and Life from Star Trek
[You don't have to know Star Trek to appreciate the Lessons]
LESSONS:
Recently Added View All (140) Ethics & Morals (11) Leadership (18) Management (55) Mankind (47) Relationships (9)
WEB SITE:
Introduction
Sign In
Register (FREE)
About Us
Contact Us
Feedback
Privacy Policy
Site Map
Category: Management
JUMP TO LESSON:
001: Bypassed for promotion (Picard, Data)
003: Management offering apology (Picard)
006: Dwelling on mistakes (Picard, Worf)
008: Management socializing with staff (Picard)
010: Bottom-line focused Management
011: Highlighting benefits to opponents (Picard)
012: Motivating with deadlines (Riker)
014: Key to success - meeting expectations (Picard, Riker)
015: When to use profanity (Picard)
016: Who dictates task assignment to staff (Picard)
017: Managing distracted employees (LaForge)
022: Where the journey exceeds the goal (Data)
025: Replacing management (Worf)
026: No honeymoon period for new management
029: Should I accept the promotion? (Riker)
031: Power of face-to-face (Picard)
032: A fresh start (Picard, LaForge)
033: Selfish evaluation of promotion (Picard, Riker)
036: Promoting against personal dislikes (Riker)
039: Access to top management (Picard)
040: King of their domain (Riker, Troy)
049: Time passage essential to task (Crusher, Q)
050: Reprimand and encourage simultaneously (Picard, Riker)
051: Atmosphere of confrontation (Picard, Riker)
056: Managers need not be oracles (Troy)
059: Management of work vs. personal priorities (Picard, Worf)
065: A priori knowledge mandatory before meeting (Picard, Troy)
073: Managing policies and procedures outside the office (Worf)
075: Admitting guilt to upper management (Picard, Crusher)
078: Public beatings of loud cell phone users (Worf)
079: Managing contentious employees (Data, Worf)
080: Management reprimand consequences (Data, Worf)
081: Is management involvement really necessary (Picard, LaForge, Data)
082: Managing your manager (Picard, LaForge, Data)
091: When to obey harmful orders (Picard)
092: Drawing the line on following orders (Picard, Riker)
093: Mentoring the timid (Picard, Worf)
097: Management actions for the greater good (Troy)
101: Diffusing uncomfortable situations (Picard, Riker, Data, LaForge)
102: Relinquishing old habits and work responsibilities (Worf, LaForge)
103: Recognizing personal faux pas' (Picard, Crusher)
104: Finality in closing communications (Picard)
122: Assuaging fears of being alone (Picard)
123: Organic nature of building confidence (Troy)
126: Importance of proper training (Picard)
127: Mentoring new management (Picard, Wesley)
128: True rewards of management (Riker, Wesley)
129: Self-imposed trepidations of management (Pulaski, Wesley)
130: Management decision making process (Riker, Wesley)
131: Finding common ground (Picard)
132: Separation of personal and professional issues (Picard, Worf)
134: Helping the underperformer (Picard, LaForge)
135: Dangers of nicknames (LaForge, Data, Wesley)
138: Bridging the gap between client and designer (LaForge)
140: Filtering methodologies (Data, LaForge)
Lesson No. 001: Bypassed for promotion (Picard, Data)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
The Federation is about to go to war with the Romulans. Multiple Federation Starships have been called to the neutral zone. Capt. Picard is assigning senior officers to command some of the ships in the fleet. Every senior officer gets assigned a ship, except for Lt. Cmdr. Data. Data, a senior officer, inquires of Picard why he was not assigned a ship. Picard, realizing his oversight, quickly assigns Data a ship.
Lesson:
This is a classic management, or rather mismanagement issue. While Data is fully qualified for the promoted position, he is overlooked for promotion because he is an Android. Although Picard greatly respects Data, and had actually fought against Starfleet in Data's defense in the past, this one time, Picard just made a very human oversight.
How many times in your own career have you been the victim or the perpetrator of this conduct? Have you ever not received the assignment, the recognition, the promotion or even the right cubicle or office that you actually deserved? Sometimes, the omission by management is purely unintentional, as is the case with Picard and Data here. Regardless, in all such situations, YOU MUST SPEAK UP AND ASK WHY!
There is absolutely nothing wrong in asking why you were overlooked or bypassed. The answer you receive will tell you more about how you are perceived by management than any pat on the back or thumbs up during Happy Hour.
Just as all good sales people always ask for the deal before they leave a prospect, you should always ask for the right deal for you from your management, if you have been overlooked. If management should decline your request, you have lost nothing, but gained a precious insight into your possible career future.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 003: Management offering apology (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
The crew of the Enterprise makes first contact with a planet that has entered into the space flight stage of their evolution; despite the advances in technology, the inhabitants of the planet remain in the Ptolemaic geocentric view of the universe.
Per Federation rules, an undercover Federation person (Cmdr. Riker) had been placed on the planet to observe the inhabitants. Due to a mishap involving Riker, Capt. Picard is forced to make the First Contact prematurely to save Riker’s life on the planet.
In greeting the leader of the planet, Picard is accompanied by a local scientist from the planet, who advises Capt. Picard to not mention Riker’s undercover presence on the planet, as it will be deemed a hostile action by the local inhabitants. Through a series of events, the planet’s leader discovers Riker’s presence and activities and questions Picard’s credibility and honesty for not having disclosed Riker's presence on the planet.
Instead of blaming the scientist, Picard immediately offers an apology and accepts the error in omission was his and not that of the scientist.
Lesson:
The lesson here is one of when to offer an apology. You will find there are many managers who are dogmatic in their notion that you should never apologize as it shows weakness on your part. It is very often true that these managers are also the same individuals who will whimper out apologies once confronted by their upper management or face losing a client due to their wrong-doing.
It is never wrong to offer apologies when you know you are in the wrong. It quickly diffuses potentially eruptive situations; it also shows the recipient your candor in wanting an honest association and your humility and confidence in yourself.
On the other hand, apologizing just for the sake of apologizing, especially when you are not sure that you are the one in error will prove detrimental.
Worst of all, be leery of anyone who uses the phrase “I regret…” This is never an apology. It is always an arrogant response from someone who is not at all sorry, but is being forced to express an apology by external forces. People in politics are notoriously culpable of this conduct.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 006: Dwelling on mistakes (Picard, Worf)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
The entire crew of the Enterprise loses their (identity) memories due to an attack by an alien. In trying to figure out who’s who, Lt. Worf’s aggressive instincts lead him to believe that he is the Captain of the ship (not Chief of Security, his real rank) and he takes command of the Enterprise. During this confusion, the Enterprise is drawn into a war by the alien responsible for the crew’s loss of memory.
After fixing the ship’s computer and learning of their true identities and rank, Worf approaches Capt. Picard and apologizes for erroneously assuming command. Picard does not reprimand Worf; rather, Picard tells Worf to think nothing of it and dismisses the issue immediately, and brings everyone’s focus back to the more urgent matter at hand - the war!
Lesson:
We all make mistakes. It’s all part of our human nature and human experience. Mistakes by virtue are errors in action, calculation, opinion or judgment that is caused by poor reasoning, carelessness or insufficient knowledge or experience. Mistakes are inadvertent and should not be considered as deliberate.
When employees and even managers make mistakes in their work or in their decisions, we need to focus on the big picture, like Picard. We should not dwell on the error and use it as leverage against the one who committed the mistake, but rather, be ready to turn the mistake into a learning opportunity.
By reprimanding and chastising the person for their mistake, a more fearful and therefore, less effective work environment is generated. Instead, through a review of the mistake, knowledge and experience are gained by everyone involved, repetition of same mistake in the future is avoided and a healthier, more supportive work environment is created.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 008: Management socializing with staff (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
In the final scene of the final episode of the Next Generation series, Capt. Picard joins the senior officers of the Enterprise in their regular poker game, for the first time, and exclaims softly that perhaps he should have joined them in their game a long time ago, indicating his closeness to his senior officers. Quite appropriately, Counselor Deanna Troy replies to the Captain that he was always welcome to join them, anytime.
Lesson:
The issue of separation of rank and file is always a critical factor in the successful operations of any organization. It is easy to dismiss the extreme forms of management styles, from the mutiny inspiring literary character of Capt. Bligh, to the very lovable children’s show character of Capt. Kangaroo. Somewhere in between is the right balance of familiarity between the ranks. This is true not only between management and staff, but also between different levels of management.
Rank indicates authority. Authority demands respect. Without the respect for the rank, there would be no hesitation in questioning management’s every order and decision, causing constant disruption in operations.
The respect for the rank, however, must not come out of fear. Fear of rank eliminates trust and communications - both of which are mandatory for success. Management needs to maintain an open door policy, promoting communications (through the proper rank channels), candor in the decision process, sharing of non-classified information and above all, a willingness to listen.
Joining those one manages, at poker games, or at Happy Hours, or inviting them over for pool parties and picnics may seem to be a good notion on the part of the manager to bond with their staff; however, too much of such activities will imply that the manager wishes to be a “friend.” This is not to say that work associates cannot be friends. However, in order for management to be successful, someone has to lead and someone has to follow. This becomes difficult if both are deemed equal as “friends.”
In this one instance, I believe Picard was better off for not having joined his senior staff much earlier for their regular game of poker.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 010: Bottom-line focused Management
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Capt. Picard is sent on an undercover mission by Starfleet and a new captain, Capt. Jellico, is placed in command of the Enterprise. Jellico is an individual that is wrapped up in playing role games in negotiations, unabashedly exerting his authority, dismissing the crew’s concerns and steamrolling over everyone, with the single focus of accomplishing his military goal.
Lesson:
Management - blindly focused on accomplishing a single goal, like the ‘bottom line’ - sound familiar?
While it is vital for managers to ensure that the company maintains the levels of earnings required for the business to be successful, it is also important for the management to appreciate the staff as individuals and people, instead of headcounts on monthly statements.
At one time or another we have all worked for or met the Jellico manager. These managers are always quick to remark, “Our people are our most valued asset.” This cliché is always received as a bold faced lie by everyone, including other managers, and reveals the exact opposite is true for the manager making the statement. These managers are also usually well noted for making the statement behind closed doors, “Tell them they are lucky to have jobs!” when referring to their staff.
Management is a difficult job. It is made more difficult if the staff is seen as menials, in servitude to the company, and not the solid foundation of the business requiring care and respect, especially from the management. Jellico and Picard display, respectively, these two attributes of command (management) styles very vividly in this episode.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 011: Highlighting benefits to opponents (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
A Hologram image of the fictional character Moriarty, arch enemy of Sherlock Holmes, gains self-awareness within a Holodeck program, and seemingly exits the Holodeck and enters Capt. Picard’s reality. No one is able to explain how Moriarty managed this feat, including Moriarty.
Moriarty next takes control of the Enterprise and demands Picard not only figure out how Moriarty managed to leave the holodeck, but also use the information to bring Moriarty’s lady love, another fictional character in the holodeck program, into Picard’s reality.
Picard expresses how dangerous the process of transferring of a holodeck image might be, and asks Moriarty if they shouldn’t first wait until tests are completed before putting the Lady’s life at risk. Moriarty agrees and complies to wait.
Lesson:
In the face of a conflict situation, rather than aggravate matters by forcefully opposing, Picard employs a much more successful tacit method of negotiation.
In any negotiation, by highlighting to the opponent, the items of benefit and risk that directly impact them, we move the attention away from the “how”, to perhaps the more important “why”. While there can always be disagreement in the methods deployed to accomplish certain tasks, there should always be agreement on the purpose or goal of the assignment. To parallel Picard’s dilemma here, of what use is a quick delivery of a solution if the end result destroys the goal we are trying to achieve?
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 012: Motivating with deadlines (Riker)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
While holding the Enterprise hostage and powerless to move, the fictional character Moriarty, from the Sherlock Holmes novels, tells Cmdr. Riker to resolve the technical problem of transferring a hologram image from the holodeck into the Riker’s reality world. To add to Riker’s dilemma, the Enterprise is within close proximity of two planets in the process of collapsing into each other, an event that will clearly destroy the Enterprise at its current distance. Moriarty uses the impending doom scenario to strengthen his negotiating position with Riker by stating that deadlines have a wonderful way of motivating.
Lesson:
What a great statement! As much as we all may dislike deadlines in our assignments, they are absolutely necessary and they should be looked upon as our guide and not an evil. True, sometimes deadlines can be miscalculated or misrepresented; however, when they are set right, they do allow for the natural progress of work and the proper alignment of resources and future projects.
Compared to our work assignments, how would we rate our work around the house? Without any firm deadline, do we not always procrastinate over cleaning out the garage, fixing the broken item, painting that one room, or even, getting around to reading that one book? Hopefully we don’t need the world coming to an end, akin to Riker’s situation, to motivate us to getting things done by a deadline.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 014: Key to success - meeting expectations (Picard, Riker)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Capt. Jellico takes command of the Enterprise while Capt. Picard is away on an undercover mission for Starfleet. From the beginning, Jellico is unrelenting in making demands of the crew in a very strict and unyielding manner. As the crew try their best to adjust to the new captain’s methods and demeanor, Cmdr. Riker quickly becomes a foil for Capt. Jellico.
In one instance, Jellico orders Riker to launch a probe at a certain time, before arriving at their destination. Upon arriving at the destination, Jellico, while sitting with Capt. Picard, asks Riker (over the com system) if the probe had been launched yet. Riker responds in the affirmative and states that he didn’t realize Jellico wanted to be informed about the launch. Jellico displayed to Picard his dismay at Riker’s lack of professionalism and failure to follow-through.
Lesson:
This one interaction between Jellico and Riker exhibits one of the fundamental mistakes made by both staff and management, whenever they are in a new relationship, either with new management or with a new client.
Predicting the reactions of another person takes time, experience and diligent observation.
When a new manager or new client requests a certain task to be performed, it is always in the best interest of the task-performer to get, not only a clear understanding of the task requirements, but more importantly, the most clear and concise understanding of the requestor’s expectations for the assignment.
Quite often these two items are very different from each other. While the task itself may be deemed quite uncomplicated and easily achievable, it is always the expectations of the requestor that must be managed properly and receive the greater attention.
Not meeting expectations will always lead to some degree of failure. Sometimes, the expectations may be quite low and involve nothing more than perhaps just a timely weekly status report, or sometimes, they can be quite substantial and involve unsolicited actions, perks or benefits the requestor is expecting along with the task delivery.
Regardless of the degree of the expectations, failure to meet them will always cause disappointment for the requestor and, a disappointed management or client is never a good thing.
It may seem unfair, even unjust, that Jellico should admonish Riker for not informing him the probe had been launched, especially since Jellico never requested such an alert as part of the probe launch task. However, complaining and whining over having failed to meet undeclared expectations will benefit no one, least of all, the one complaining. Management and especially clients have no mandates to be forgiving in these instances. So, we need to use these occurrences as learning opportunities instead.
Through observations and direct querying, we begin to form the correct modus operandi for our new management or new client. Then, going forward, we are able to predict and satisfy their expectations, even when they are not stated directly.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 015: When to use profanity (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
The Federation has signed a peace treaty with the Klingon Empire, however, tensions still exist. A Klingon Governor at a remote Klingon occupied planet in Klingon territory accuses the Federation of arming rebels on the planet to overthrow the Klingon occupation. The Enterprise arrives to investigate. In their first face to face encounter, the Klingon Governor curses out Capt. Picard in a vile Klingon native phrase. Picard gets right in the Governors face and swears back just as crudely in Klingon language. The Governor backs down by complimenting Picard on his usage of Klingon curses.
Lesson:
There are times in the art of negotiations, when civility may be misconstrued as servility. While we must always be in control of our emotions during negotiations and ensure that we not let our pre-conceived notions or prejudices be reflected in our reactions or remarks, it is crucial that we not back down from any gauntlet cast down before us in challenge. To do so would be to show weakness and assume a submissive posture in the negotiations. If the opposing party in negotiations is culturally prone to using cursing or some other action which we may find objectionable or repulsive, then we must first make an overt decision before entering into any discussions. Are the goals of the negotiations beneficial or profitable enough for us to engage the opposing party in dialog? If it is, then we must be willing to comply by their standards and match them tooth for tooth, nail for nail, and curse for curse...and like Picard, it would behoove us to first learn their language, both formal and colloquial.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 016: Who dictates task assignment to staff (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
In order to prevent the Klingon empire from exploding into a civil war, Lt. Worf sacrifices his reputation and honor by accepting Discommendation, a title untrue of his deeds and yet bears the sign of the pariah and is recognized within the Klingon culture to reflect dishonor and disgrace.
When a Klingon High Counsel Emissary arrives on the Enterprise on route to resolve a war situation for the Klingon Empire, Capt. Picard assigns Worf to assist the Emissary. The Emissary immediately requests another assistant because of Worf's Discommendation. Picard declines the Emissary's request and states that, while he understands the reason behind the Emissary's request, as the Chief of Security on board the Enterprise, Worf is the best suited for the assignment and insists on not changing the assignment. The Emissary complies with the Captain's orders.
Lesson:
The question raised here is, where to draw the line in business between the company assigning personnel resources and letting the client dictate the selection. This is one of those times where perhaps the maxim "The Customer Is Always Right" may not be the best rule to follow.
From the company's view, we always want our customers to be satisfied with our service. However, to meet that goal we cannot sacrifice our business goals or the loyalty and trust of our employees. As ridiculous as it may sound today in the 21st century, there are still people in our world who will proudly and loudly exclaim they do not want a female assigned to their account; "Put a man on the job!" is their usual male, chest beating chant; or perhaps, if a client objects to having a person assigned to them who has a past criminal record, do we simply remove the person from the account, even if they have done nothing wrong on the job and only excelled in performance? By that account, shouldn't every CEO guilty of any wrong doing be shunned from any future employment?
It is always the responsibility and duty of management (and actually everyone), to fight these types of prejudices, wherever and whenever we may encounter them. We just need to ensure that the personnel we assign to customers are adept at serving the customer properly.
Unfortunately, we also need to be realistic and have to accept the fact that sometimes it is the lesser of two evils to comply with clients' prejudicial requests, such as if the loss of the client may severely damage or even sink the company. Taking a high moral ground is self-defeating, if by winning, we lose the very ground upon which we stand.
Akin to Picard, we should always fight for the cause first; however, if Picard were threatened with the departure of the Emissary as caused by Worf's assignment, Picard would have had no other choice but to comply with the Emissary's demands.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 017: Managing distracted employees (LaForge)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
The Borg attack the Enterprise, the shields are down, phasers and photon torpedoes are proving useless in stopping the Borg attack and 18 crew members are killed in the attack. Chief Engineer, Jeordi LaForge and his team are desperately trying to get the shields back on line. A fresh new recruit, just having come on board is now facing trial under fire; she is overwhelmed by the death of the 18 crew members and is unable to concentrate on the repair work underway. LaForge, in the midst of the flurry of activities, tells the new recruit that they will grieve for their fallen comrades later, but for now she must focus only on getting the shields back on line.
Lesson:
While the scenario here is very melodramatic and we can forgive the new recruit for being distracted from her work, we do, however, get to see management getting control of the situation and bringing focus back to the more exigent matter at hand. We all get distract from our work from time to time while at our job. If the distraction is due to personal issues, such as death of a loved one, relationship problems, financial crisis, etc., management needs to show empathy to the individual and give them a little time and room to adjust to their respective dilemma; however, if the allotment of personal time might cause irreparable harm to the business, then the LaForge method used above should be exercised. It's all a matter of priorities.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 022: Where the journey exceeds the goal (Data)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Cmdr. Data, a senior officer and android, aboard the Enterprise, states that he is incapable of having any emotions or feelings and that he has accepted this limitation of his existence. When he is asked, why he tries to emulate humans when he cannot experience their most fundamental human nature or why he aspires to be more human when the pursuit can serve no purpose except to continually remind him that he is incomplete, Data says very simply that it is the actual quest that matters the most. It is the struggle to be more than he is which is the most important to him. He finds his reward in his efforts to reach the goal, even though he understands it may be a goal which he will never reach.
Lesson:
Goals- to live without them or to run a business without them, is to just merely exist and not grow. A business without goals will perish very quickly most assuredly. A life lived without goals, is to go day by day, letting the tides of events caused by others guide the way. Only by placing goals ahead of us do we ever take command of our life's path and get to exercise at least a modicum of control over events that happen our way.
The great thing about goals is they exist only as long as they are not attained. Once accomplished, they disappear into the past, and are often replaced by new goals. Most goals, therefore, are perishable, with hardly any remembrance of them, while the knowledge and experience gained in the effort to accomplish the goals are forever.
It is the goals which are not easily attainable that always drive us beyond our normal boundaries of capabilities and make us excel to the next quantum levels. Efforts yielding rewards by themselves, is a great human concept for Data, an android, to understand and emulate.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 025: Replacing management (Worf)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
When Cmdr. Data is mistakenly presumed killed during a routine shuttle accident, Lt. Worf is promoted to take over Data’s assignments. Worf, who had been promoted to his current position as Chief of Security due to the death previously of yet another Starfleet officer, is asked how he feels about this second promotion due to the death of another officer and former friend. Worf replies in true Klingon fashion that he will do his very best to perform his new duties to the best of his abilities to best honor his fallen comrades.
Lesson:
While the recognition and reward of promotions are very positive events in the business world, they do, however, many times carry some levels of discomfort for those involved with the promotion. The staff will look upon the newly promoted with hesitation, even if they are familiar with the one promoted, for a new found position of power has led many astray with delusions of grandeur. Even worse fears of the newly promoted being weak and indecisive, always give the staff cause for concern.
As the personalities for the one promoted can be anywhere from shy and reserved to boisterous and maniacal, adjustment to somewhere in the middle, where all are finally comfortable, may take a little time. Whether the staff gives the newly promoted the benefit of doubt or not on his/her management capabilities, the one promoted must take charge first of himself, and then the staff and tasks at hand. For the newly promoted to show any signs of indecision or naïveté in their new role is to relinquish their power and invite failure. The responsibility and accountability for success of the promotion lies always with the one promoted.
Whether a promotion causes one to replace a friend, leading to managing former peers, or places one in the role in a brand new environment, the best approach is to always emulate Worf’s Klingon attribute and simply do the very best one can to perform their new duties.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 026: No honeymoon period for new management
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
While Capt. Picard is away on an undercover mission for Starfleet, the change with a replacement commander on board the Enterprise is quick and decisive, with no discussion or forewarning for any one on board the Enterprise, including its senior officers. The new captain immediately imposes new rules and procedures in a harsh manner. The new Captain wastes no time in letting the senior officers know exactly who is in charge by imposing a whole set of new orders requiring extra shifts and extra effort from everyone on board. He also makes it crystal clear that he is not interested in catering to the crews feelings or concerns about the change in command. In his blind quest to accomplish his military goal, the new Captain steamrolls through the crew with disdain.
Lesson:
There is always a period of adjustment for any new relationship. Whether it is personal or professional, it takes time for the different parties involved in the relationship to become comfortable with each other’s respective roles, motivations, personalities and characters.
When a new manager arrives, time must be allotted for an adjustment period. This does not mean work has to stop; on the contrary, it is through the performing of tasks together, that the new manager and staff can get to know and understand each other better.
Even though it is quite often true, that management is usually not overly concerned about their acceptance by the staff, management must, however, respect the potential for disruption of the staff’s working synergy by the introduction of a new personality in a leading role.
As the selection of managers is generally not a democratic (by vote) process, the affected staff always has to accept the new manager, no questions asked, otherwise, they can always exercise their right to resign under an ‘at-will’ employment contract. This condition, in turn, sometimes gives the new manager leverage to impose their will on the staff, without too much fear of repercussion or continued resistance.
Following the ruthless and abrasive management style of the replacement Captain in this scene can lead to nothing but disaster, for a team succeeds based on trust and loyalty to its leader, and both of those qualities have to be earned over time, not granted a priori.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 029: Should I accept the promotion? (Riker)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Cmdr. Riker, second in command on the starship Enterprise, is offered the promotion to captain his own starship. His choice is to decline the promotion and remain on the Enterprise, where he has the distinction, prestige and glamour of being the second in command of Starfleet’s flagship, a galaxy class starship, or to accept the promotion and become the captain of a relatively insignificant ship posted in an obscure part of the galaxy, but be in command.
Lesson:
As odd as it may sound, believe it or not, a promotion can be quite a dilemma at times. Promotions may not always be the glorifying rewards they appear to be at first. People are not always promoted just because they excel at their assignments or show superior capabilities. Sometimes promotions are offered to maneuver people out of a company; other times, people are promoted just because they have been at their job for what seems to be forever.
In all cases, accepting a promotion should always be weighed very carefully by the one being promoted. Some of the questions to ask are - does the promotion lead to where I want to go, what are the risk exposures to the new position, what degree of difficulty awaits in assimilating into the new role, and this is one time where you should be extremely selfish and ask “What’s in it for me?”
For those familiar with the late night talk shows in the US, a promotion to host the much coveted 11:30 PM Tonight Show led to the worst TV programming debacle on the NBC network at the end of 2009. The promoted host accepted the new position, leaving behind his own successful show, only to be fired after 7 months in the new show due to poor ratings.
Perhaps the most explicit and cogent statement on promotions came from Admiral Kirk, as he gave advice to Capt. Picard during their ephemeral encounter in the Nexus. Kirk told Picard to never accept a promotion to Admiral and be put behind a desk, to never let anyone or anything take him out of the Captain’s chair, because that’s where the action is.
So, make sure you accept promotions that always continue to keep you in the action you seek.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 031: Power of face-to-face (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Capt. Picard is sent to evaluate a new planet for admission into the federation. While on site, the Captain is caught in the middle of an internal struggle within the planet’s population between interned ex-soldiers and the established government. Having captured one of the rebel ex-soldiers, Picard sympathizes with the ex-soldiers cause, however, due to the Federation’s Prime Directive, Picard is forbidden to interfere in the internal policies of a planet, no matter what his personal convictions or feelings.
Picard approaches the ex-soldier, confined in a security holdings cell on board the Enterprise, to tell the prisoner that there is no recourse except to return him back to the planet’s government security forces; however, that the Captain will try to do whatever he can to help the prisoner from an official capacity. The prisoner expresses his appreciation to the Captain for taking the time to tell him this face to face. Picard says it’s the least he could do for the prisoner.
Lesson:
We should all take note of the very relevant and important method of communication being practiced here. In our age of texting, IM’ing, emailing, faxing and good old fashioned phone calling, we should never lose sight of the true value of the face to face, in person, dialog or conversation. Just as our technology allows us to communicate faster and on a much broader scale than ever before, it also dehumanizes and limits our capacity to really connect with another human being. Today, it is not uncommon to hire and fire, date and break-up, marry and divorce, praise and condemn, all via the stale, impersonal lines of emails and text messages.
We humans (especially managers) need to take that extra step to always maintain our personal, face-to-face contact relationship with our fellow humans (especially staff and customers) whenever possible. While a message conveyed by technology is surely faster, it is the message that is relayed in person which carries the far greater value.
The very small, almost insignificant gesture of relaying a message to the prisoner in person by Picard is held in high esteem by the prisoner, who is essentially the Captain’s foe. Let’s see technology beat that!
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 032: A fresh start (Picard, LaForge)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Cmdr. Data is kidnapped and made to look like he died in a shuttle accident. Lt. Cmdr. LaForge is extremely upset at the death of his friend and unable to shake the incident, especially since he was involved in the shuttle incident. He keeps going over each step leading up to the accident in his head, over and over again, almost to the point of being obsessive. In the meantime, the Enterprise is ordered on a new rescue mission where LaForge’s engineering talents will be required extensively.
Seeing LaForge’s single-focused, all consuming desire to solve the mystery of Data’s shuttle accident and in light of the upcoming demands of the new mission ahead, Capt. Picard orders LaForge to put aside the shuttle accident for now, and get some rest immediately. LaForge complies with the order.
Lesson:
Whether at work or in our personal lives, we all sometimes get stuck on an issue that we just can’t seem to resolve. It could be as technical as a coding bug in a software application or as silly as trying to remember the name of the actor in that one movie we just can’t remember. Our obsession in these all-time consuming scenarios usually does not help us to resolve our problems. Usually our constant pounding towards what we think is the solution just ends up taking us further away from the answer.
Managers in all walks of life, including parents and teachers, must take overt steps here to guide the obsessed individual to step away from the problem. Take a walk, read a book, see a movie, or even get some sleep, anything to distract from the problem at hand. By moving away from the problem, we are no longer confined inside the problem. By using a fresh new approach to the problem, or even just by re-addressing the problem from the outside, the solutions sometimes make themselves apparent with very little effort on our part.
It was only when LaForge did follow the Captain’s orders and fell asleep that he dreamt his way to the solution and was able to identify the shuttle accident was faked.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 033: Selfish evaluation of promotion (Picard, Riker)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Cmdr. Riker, second in command of the Enterprise, is offered a promotion to be the Captain of his own ship. This is the third time Starfleet has pulled out the captain’s chair for Riker. Having refused the promotion both earlier times, an Admiral from Starfleet tells Capt. Picard to advise Riker that there are a lot of young hot shots on the way up in Starfleet who will jump at the chance of the Captain’s chair, and that may make Riker’s career appear to be at a stand still and eventually end up hurting his own future as a result of just staying put.
Lesson:
Offers of promotion should always be weighed against many different pros and cons. We should always seek out the best opportunities for ourselves, as they best fit our situations. Sometimes promotions may hinder us by forcing us to relocate, thereby, disrupting our families, or, may include substantial more travel time, whereby, we are away from our home more often, or it could just take us away from the work we really love and put us in more of an administrative position. While the pay and prestige of the promotion may be better than what we have currently, we do need to put everything in proper perspective, before jumping ahead.
But here is the often unseen dilemma that may not really be considered by those to whom the promotions are offered. Most companies offer promotions based on recognition of skills and/or satisfying a business need. When a promotion is rejected, it is not easily forgotten by the management. If the rejection is based on anything other than avoiding a hugely deleterious impact on the one promoted ( such as relocation, etc.), then that individual can pretty much kiss goodbye any future opportunities of promotions at the company. Just to avoid promotion because you do not want to take on any additional responsibilities is to seal your career fate in concrete. Not only will promotions no longer be offered, but raises in pay will also be strongly curtailed, perhaps even plateaued. After all, what management would ever pay a staff member more than a manager, just because the staff has been there longer.
Obviously, Riker made the correct choice by never accepting a promotion to captain. Why you ask, after all that was just stated in the Lesson? Well, such a promotion would have ended his assignment on the Enterprise, and got him kicked off the show!
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 036: Promoting against personal dislikes (Riker)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
When Capt. Picard is captured by the alien Borg race, Cmdr. Riker, 2nd in command of the Enterprise, is promoted to captain. As the new captain of the Enterprise, Riker needs to fill his old position by promoting someone from within the Enterprise senior officers. Although Lt. Cmdr. Data and Lt. Worf are both qualified for the promotion, Riker decides that, given their respective knowledge and experiences, they are more valuable in their existing roles due to the impending battle with the Borg. With reluctance, Riker promotes Lt. Cmdr. Shelby who is on temporary assignment on the Enterprise. Riker’s hesitation with Shelby is caused mostly by Shelby’s over aggressive nature, especially with regard to the pursuit of her personal career growth within Starfleet. However, Riker does recognize Shelby’s knowledge and experience with Borg tactics does qualify her for the promotion, in spite of her negative characteristics.
Lesson:
Sometimes management has to make choices regarding promotions with which they may not be totally satisfied. Promoting anyone into a management role (or higher management role) requires the assessments of multiple issues. The review of the quantity and quality of knowledge, experience and past performance of the promotion candidate is, of course, mandatory. But, we need to look beyond just the individual and study the promotion environment and all other areas which may be impacted by the promotion.
If promoting from within, then we need to consider what losses, if any, may be incurred by removing the candidate from their current position. If the candidate is conducting critical research or development or negotiations for the company, will the promotion divert the candidate’s attention far enough away from the project so as to diminish the project’s chances for success? Should management dismiss all individuals from candidacy for promotion whom they do not ‘like’? In the case of promotion to higher management roles, would the company be better served if the candidate remained in their current management role, but took on the additional responsibilities of the vacant position?
In the end, the final decision for the promotion must serve the company’s needs first. The choice has to always be in favor of the best fit individual for the role, within the boundary conditions of not jeopardizing any existing or potential future functions of the company. So, even if the Shelby characters under consideration for promotion may have some unfavorable qualities, they may still be the best candidate for promotion, for the good of the company.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 039: Access to top management (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
The Federation is in need of help from the Klingon Empire. Capt. Picard reaches out to Garon, whom he had previously helped to gain the leadership of the Klingon Empire. Garon does not respond to Picard’s attempts to contact him. Instead, a very low level, Junior Adjutant to the Diplomatic Corp. of the Klingon government responds to Picard. Picard advises the Junior Adjutant to tell Garon about the Federation’s request. Upon being asked what the Klingons will receive in return for the helping the Federation, Picard tells the Junior Adjutant to tell Garon, that Garon will have the ‘gratitude’ of the Federation. Picard also adds that if Garon is unable to assist the Federation, then Picard will make the request of another Klingon government member and, then that Klingon will have the ‘gratitude’ of the Federation. Picard concludes with a slew of platitudes praising Garon’s leadership qualities. At the risk of a fellow Klingon foe gaining the upper hand with the Federation, Garon arrives immediately in person to address Picard’s request.
Lesson:
This scene addresses the most fundamental communications hurdles faced by all of us when we wish to contact someone in a power position. Unless the one in power has something to gain personally, they will most likely not respond, or if they have a shred of decency, they may forward our request to a lower level staff member, who usually responds with standard pre-formatted answers. So, what should we do in this case?
Once we have tried going through all of the proper channels and failed to reach our targeted contact, we need to revise our strategy for communicating. Our new approach must focus on offering our targeted contact an incentive to respond. We need to establish and highlight what benefits can be realized by our targeted contact by them responding to us. The benefits are usually in one of two forms.
A direct benefit, whereby, the targeted contact gains financially, promotionally, strategic position, egotistically or by receiving favors is generally the preferred incentive. The indirect benefit is a more subtle, yet if implemented properly, can be a more powerful inducer. We need to set the scenario for our targeted contact such that they will stand to lose more by not responding to us, than vice versa. Some simple approaches are the threats of contacting the targeted contact’s superiors, contacting their competitors, contacting their clients, contacting them via open letters in newspapers and magazines, and then, of course, there is the Internet! Public methods of contact via web sites, blog sites, social networks, and twittering have now made it very easy for us to send our messages, complimentary or defamatory, to anyone and everyone.
If everyone was decent, then we would never have any need to resort to such lengths just to be heard. However, more often than not, people, especially those with some power, tend to be more like Garon, and bow deep and kiss our feet when they need our help and then shun us once we are no longer of any use to them. Just like Garon, the more arrogant they are, the more indecent they are and the more, like Picard, you should never back down from them.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 040: King of their domain (Riker, Troy)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Cmdr. Riker needs information from the Quarter Master of the Federation Surplus Depot. When contacted by Riker for the information, the Quarter Master is totally uncooperative and tells Riker to first make an appointment to submit his request for information. Riker is stunned by the response and not sure what to do. Counselor Troy tells Riker to use a more genteel approach with the Quarter master, for the Quarter master considers himself the king of his particular domain and expects to be treated as such. Riker quickly hands off the assignment to Troy.
Lesson:
It is abundantly true that there are an unimaginable number of paper pushing clerks in every organization with delusions of grandeur for their limited assignments, who will always take every measure possible to do the least amount of work themselves while managing to hinder the progress of others as much as possible. These characters are usually also the first ones to complain and express their dissatisfaction if they do not get cooperation from others. These sloths of the workplace are an unfortunate reality with whom we all have to contend at times, either as co-workers or their customers.
Whether it was due to ill-parenting or just a plain loss of all redeemable virtues in their personality, these people usually entrench themselves in their sloth-like behavior in large form due to some kind of job security that protects them from job dismissal. In the public and private sectors, jobs are often so well protected, that management has very little power in replacing these people. Reprimanding and admonishing these people only fuel their obnoxious behavior even further.
Heaven help the poor individual who ever needs anything from these people. As threats are ineffective and common decency is totally unknown to these people, Troy’s approach of ‘smoozing’ them may be our only alternative. Their shield of uncooperative invulnerability can usually be brought down by targeting their fragile egos with false praise.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 049: Time passage essential to task (Crusher, Q)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Dr. Crusher needs to deliver live bacilli (bacteria) in stasis condition as counteragents to a planet facing a global health crisis. In order to be successful, Crusher first needs to accurately measure the mitosis rates of the bacilli. She assigns this simple task to her intern, Amanda. Amanda, having (Q) omnipotent powers, accelerates the testing procedures using her alien abilities and completes twice the amount of tests in half the time. Seeing the test results, Crusher tells Amanda that the results are useless now because by artificially inflating the mitosis rates, they now unable to properly manage the bacilli in real time.
Lesson:
Sometimes there are reasons why certain tasks and assignments require a specified amount of time to complete. The inherent constraint of these projects is usually the time factor. The impact of the passage of time may either be the focal point of our study, or it may be the boundary condition by which we must abide.
The half-life of an element, the mandatory payment of monthly salaries, birthdays and anniversaries are all controlled by the passage of normal time. While it may be feasible to accelerate delivery of certain projects with the addition of more resources, there are some tasks where such steps are futile as we are powerless to alter the required passage of time that is essential to the task.
Just because one woman can give birth to one child in a normal 9-month period, it does not mean that we can deliver one child in 1-month period by putting 9 women on the job.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 050: Reprimand and encourage simultaneously (Picard, Riker)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Cmdr. Riker takes extra risks to save the life of another while on an away mission. Although the mission was successful, Capt. Picard questions Riker on taking such unnecessary personal risks. Riker states that he had previously failed to save the life of the sister of the person he saved today and that he didn’t want to “…lose another one”. Picard reprimands Riker for responding so emotionally to the situation. As Riker walks away with his head lowered, Picard stops him and says “…and well done!” bringing a smile to Riker’s face.
Lesson:
Administering reprimands are never easy. It is always recognized as the final course in a failure-to-perform-correctly situation. If a child misbehaves or an employee lies or a company steals, they must all be disciplined in a strict manner. However, before passing hasty judgment, each incident must be reviewed in detail to insure that the failure to act according to the rules was, in fact, conducted with malicious intent.
While penalizing a child for fighting may appear to be the right thing to do at first glance, we may decide otherwise, if we discover that the child was in the fight while defending his victimized friend. There are many situations where, even though the actions may not be deemed suitable, the goals were virtuous and therefore, as contradictory as it may sound, the admonishment should always be followed by words of recognition and encouragement.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 051: Atmosphere of confrontation (Picard, Riker)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Admiral Nechyev of Starfleet is due to arrive on board the Enterprise. Capt. Picard has had differences of opinions with the admiral in the past and a certain amount of tension exists between them. Cmdr. Riker is, therefore, understandably surprised when he sees that Picard has prepared the Admiral’s favorite dishes for the meeting. Picard explains to Riker that they do not have to like the admiral, but they do have to follow her orders and maintaining an atmosphere of confrontation serves no constructive purpose.
Lesson:
While disagreeing with the opinions and even the decisions of upper management is always everyone’s prerogative, you should never let the “disagreement” turn into a “disconnect” with your upper management. Rules, protocol and tier level management structures all serve the purpose of keeping an organization functioning properly and efficiently. It is our acceptance and respect for these conditions that keeps everything running smoothly. Disagreeing with upper management decisions should always be done in accordance to protocol, and always devoid of any emotional issues rooted in our personal ego.
In the face of differing opinions, you must relinquish to the decisions of your upper level management. To establish any adversarial relationship with your upper management is to commit career suicide. If you find your upper management’s opinions and decisions are so totally against your personal beliefs, that you are unable to perform under their conditions, it is better for you to resign than to continue the losing battle in trying to impress your viewpoints upon the management. You may hold your management in low esteem as individuals with very little redeeming values, however, you must not let that translate into disrespecting their positions within the organization. Instead of focusing on areas where you disagree, try to find common grounds where you both share the same views with regard to the organization and the work.
Picard is absolutely right is saying that you don’t have to like your management (or for that matter your peers) - you just have to work with them.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 056: Managers need not be oracles (Troy)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
The Enterprise is accidently hit by a quantum filament of energy and left adrift with vital sections of the ship cut off from each other. Counselor Troy is left as the highest ranking officer on the command bridge. Also on the bridge are Chief O’Brian and Ensign Ro Laren. Although Troy is not trained in command procedures, she nevertheless takes charge and asks for suggestions from O’Brian and Laren. By weighing their opposing advice, Troy orders a course of action, despite vehement opposition from Laren.
Lesson:
Managers must excel in managing and do not necessarily need to be the oracle of knowledge for everything. Sometimes managers may not have all the information required to make the right management decision by themselves. The information they are missing, either due to a lack of education or prior experience, they may need to seek out from others. Managers must put aside their egos and always be prepared to request input from their staff, peers and even upper management, if need be. Requesting opinions and suggestions from others does not diminish the role of managers, rather it re-enforces their commitment to making the best decisions for their organizations. It also indicates the manager’s willingness to trust the respective talents of their staff.
Managers must also pay attention to the individuals whose advice they did not follow. The manager must acknowledge their contributions to the decision making process by having offered alternative solutions. By commending their input, the manager encourages their future involvement in similar situations.
As Troy’s actions proved right, Laren apologized to Troy for being wrong. Troy replied that Laren could just have easily been right in this instance. Offering encouragement in the face of being wrong is very command worthy indeed.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 059: Management of work vs. personal priorities (Picard, Worf)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Lt. Worf’s pre-teen son arrives on the Enterprise to live with Worf. As is the life of parent, Worf’s day is constantly interrupted by issues concerning his son. Not only does attending to his son delay him for a meeting with Capt. Picard, but he is also interrupted twice during the meeting by the school teacher and the doctor, respectively, with questions regarding his son. Realizing Worf’s situation, Picard dismisses Worf from the meeting and tells Worf to go attend to his family matters first, and then attend to the issues discussed in the meeting.
Lesson:
A good manager must acknowledge that for everyone, the needs of family matters will always supersede any job related work issue. No one can ever perform at their optimal level if they are carrying the burden of a family crisis on their mind. Sometimes the family related concerns can be so overwhelming, that job performance can suffer and the potential for errors and failures can rise exponentially. Only by taking the time to attend to the family issues can individuals bring their focus back to their jobs. The family issues do not have to be readily resolved. They just need to be deferred to a stasis mode, until full attention can be given to them after normal work hours.
Allocating personal time to people to attend to family matters should be a mandate of all management. Reasonable managers will always make contingency plans to back up their staff should staff require urgent time off from work. The same manager will then always be able allow personnel to be away from their assignments for short durations without hampering or causing any delay to work deliverables. By not impacting the work, the manager not only keeps his company and his customer satisfied, but more importantly, the manager gains, in return, greater commitment and allegiance from the staff member who was given the time off.
Of course, common sense must be applied by the manager when granting personal time off to staff. The risk of abuse by nefarious employees could very well turn a leave for a family emergency into a day at the beach or the ball game.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 065: A priori knowledge mandatory before meeting (Picard, Troy)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
On a first contact mission with a new alien civilization, Counselor Troy gets emotionally involved with the leader of the alien world, prior to his initial introductory meeting with Capt. Picard. As Picard and Troy head for their first meeting together with the leader of the alien world, Troy pauses to confess to Picard that she has behaved unprofessionally by getting involved in an inappropriate relationship with the planet’s leader. Despite facing the consequences of the admission of her guilt, she explains that she wanted to make sure that Picard knew all the facts pertaining to all the parties involved in the meeting, before Picard convened the meeting.
Lesson:
In any professional meeting, especially negotiation oriented meeting, one of the most critical factors to success is the proper and timely access to information in preparation for the meeting. It is not enough to know just the facts and figures. Many times, it is the fore-knowledge of the individuals involved in the meeting that can give the upper hand in any successful negotiations. Just as all good coaches and trainers formulate their strategies for the next game or match by studying the rival’s latest data, including reviewing past performances, so should anyone heading into any professional meeting. Knowing the meeting participant individuals likes, dislikes, strengths and weaknesses can help prepare one to control the direction of the meeting into self-beneficial venues.
The biggest deterrent to success is, of course, the introduction of any new damaging information, which was unbeknownst heretofore. Any surprise disclosure of facts seen unfavorable to one’s own agenda can quickly derail accomplishing any pre-set objectives. Therefore, in order to avoid such situations, one must have extremely trustworthy and diligent resources that will not leave any stone or rock unturned in gathering information for the meeting. It goes without saying that if there is any wrong-doing or even the mere appearance of inappropriate behavior on anyone’s part, this must become a priori knowledge before the meeting.
Hopefully, everyone’s staff resource is as conscientious and courageous as Troy and will voluntarily disclose such information to their management without any reservation, before it is too late.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 073: Managing policies and procedures outside the office (Worf)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Lt. Worf, the Klingon Chief of Security from the Enterprise, is being held against his will on a peaceful planet where former enemies, the Klingons and the Romulans, now live together in peace. When Worf asks to travel outside of the restricted area and promises to not to try to escape, the Romulan camp commander, at first, rejects Worf’s request. However, as the elder Klingon leader on the planet reminds the Romulan commander that a Klingon never breaks his word, the Romulan Commander leaves the final decision up to the Klingon elder. Worf is given permission to travel outside by the elder Klingon; however, he is to be chaperoned by another Klingon, who in turn is given the direct order to kill Worf, in case Worf tries to escape.
Lesson:
One of the inherent responsibilities of management is to take risks in assigning tasks. It is not just the individual talents of the available resources that dictate the selection of personnel; rather, it is the overall ability of the resource to meet the necessary needs of the assignment and represent the organization in the best light that must be considered carefully. Whereas, tasks performed strictly internally within the four walls of a company can be distributed easily without too much concern for interaction with people outside, it is more the assignments which require contact by personnel from the company with people outside the organization that should raise concerns for exercising proper due diligence in the selection process.
When any internal personnel interacts with the organization’s clients, prospects, partners, outside media or even with another division within the same organization, the management must ensure the assigned person is fully aware of their fiduciary obligations as a formal representative of the company. That is, all words communicated and actions taken by the individual will be considered as sanctioned by, and as a reflection of the organization. This not only necessitates that the individual very carefully mind their P’s & Q’s, but also to hold to the very highest standards of ethical and moral behavior as constituted by their company’s internal Policies and Procedures manual. Violation of these standards may not only embarrass the organization publicly, but could also bring about financial and legal losses.
Under the prospects of such dire consequences, management is well advised to make clear to their representative the possible penalties that can be incurred for violating company policies, well before the assignment begins. The reductions in rank, loss of promotion possibilities, and dismissal are all noteworthy penalties. Unfortunately, even in the case of deliberate repeat offenders, management, however, may not consider the Klingon practice of death as a penalty, as a viable reprimand.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 075: Admitting guilt to upper management (Picard, Crusher)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Dr. Beverly Crusher, the Chief Medical Officer on board the Enterprise, suspects that the death of an alien Ferengi scientist was not accidental, but rather murder. Believing that only an autopsy will prove her point, she performs an illegal autopsy. She does this in direct defiance of Capt. Picard’s order, denying her autopsy request, due to the Ferengi custom of prohibiting any autopsies being performed on Ferengi people. Immediately after performing the autopsy, which yields no definitive results, Dr. Crusher goes directly to Capt. Picard and admits her wrong doing and tells him she is ready to accept any punishment for her actions.
Lesson:
When someone, especially management or anyone in authority, deliberately commits a wrongful act, ethically, morally or legally, the worst thing they can do to exacerbate the situation is to not admit their culpability or try to deny their actions and create a cover-up. Only by taking immediate responsibility for their actions can the guilty party ever hope to gain any sympathy from those in charge.
By informing management first yourself and letting them know your reasons for what you did may count well in your favor comes judgment time, as opposed to management finding out on their own about your erroneous actions from someone else. Worst of all, if your management is going to be held accountable for your actions, then their lack of knowledge of your actions will not only embarrass them, but may also compound the degree of penalty pronounced upon them.
There should be no hesitation in admitting your actions openly, if you believe you were truly justified in what you did, regardless of the consequences. By remaining silent, however, you imply your acceptance of your guilt in the complicity of your actions and compound decisions to be made not in your favor. To voluntarily admit or to not admit is the easiest question to ask yourself before undertaking any action that you think may be considered wrongful by others. There is only one right answer to this question and it doesn’t take a Medical Degree of Dr. Crusher’s to get the correct answer.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 078: Public beatings of loud cell phone users (Worf)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Lt. Worf, a Klingon warrior and Chief of Security on the Enterprise is given the task of liaison with a visiting exchange alien ambassador. Worf, an aggressive personality, tones down his usual temper to fulfill his duty in escorting the ambassador around the Enterprise. Unfortunately, the ambassador appears to be set on testing Worf’s patience. He continually provokes Worf by being extremely rude and dismissive. Worf manages his best to curtail his frustration and anger at every turn. In discussing the intolerable situation with Counselor Deanna Troy, she tells Worf to stop being so patient and accommodating and to let the ambassador know that there are limits and boundaries to bad behavior and that some behavior is just not acceptable in a civilized human society.
Lesson:
Dealing with adversarial, offensive and rude people is one of the basic functions of Management. We see this function in practice first as children. As a child, and later as a youth, we try to push the boundaries of behavior as set by our parents. Some obviously push harder than others, as evidenced by public displays of outbursts and tantrums. Later in life, based on our respective parental up bringing, and in some degree to our inherent qualities, we may decide to push the borders of proper behavior as set forth and deemed acceptable by our societies. In some cases, there are adults who may even try to push such envelopes of conduct in their work places.
In all of the aforementioned instances, there must be a place where those in charge - parents, law enforcement and work place managers - must draw a definitive line which may not be breeched by anyone, without incurring severe penalties. For breaking the parents’ rules for proper behavior, the children can be disciplined by eliminating their access to all electronic devices (TV, phones, computers, etc.) and canceling all extracurricular activities, including going out with friends. For breaking society’s rules of proper behavior, unfortunately, the authorities cannot intervene until a specific written law has been violated. The unacceptable behavior of smoking in clearly marked non-smoking areas or parking a car in a no parking zone can be dealt with by the authorities with citations; however, the sheer rudeness of the inevitable arrogant insensitive idiot who must talk loud on their cell phone in public places is not a punishable act…yet. Fortunately, most work places can be managed much better as the rules and regulations of office etiquette and proper behavior are clearly stated in writing. Violations of such rules and regulations usually results in verbal warnings, followed by written warnings and finally, dismissal.
Once we have defined the limits of acceptable behavior, we are empowered to first advise, then admonish if need be, people who are being offensive and rude. Worf manages to serve his admonishment to the ambassador with a 4 hour physical combat training session, where he gets to take out all of his pent up aggression by severely beating the ambassador. If only our laws allowed us to do the same to the publically loud cell phone user.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 079: Managing contentious employees (Data, Worf)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
When Capt. Picard and Commander Riker are taken aboard an enemy ship, Lt. Cmdr. Data, an android, assumes command of the Enterprise and promotes the Chief of Security, Lt. Worf, as the second in command, First Officer (Number One). Worf soon begins to show his dissention of Data’s decisions and commands. Worf even shows his annoyance with Data by muttering his sour feelings under his breath in front of subordinates. At this point, Data pulls Worf aside and informs Worf of his dissatisfaction with Worf’s performance as First Officer. By continually questioning Data’s orders in front of the crew and publically showing his disdain when not in agreement with Data’s command decisions, Worf is failing to do his duties in the role of First Officer. Data educates Worf on the primary function of the First Officer, which is to offer alternatives, if there any, on command decisions, and then to follow out the Captain’s orders, regardless of how he feels about the order, and especially if he disagrees with the order. Data gives Worf the directive to carry out his duties as described for the First Officer and refrain from making any further exhibitions of irritation or disagreement with command decisions in public; otherwise, Worf will be removed from the position of First Officer. Worf regrets his bad behavior and asks to remain as First Officer.
Lesson:
In order for management to retain proper control and be successful, there must be absolute respect shown for the management position from all subordinates. It is management’s duty to make the tough decisions and to take the necessary risks involved to achieve success in any endeavor. While it is acceptable for management to seek out alternatives from their staff, so as to make the best possible decision, it does not mean that the manager is relinquishing their management position.
In most organizations, management encourages staff to submit their input on many management-type decisions regarding tasks or the organization. However, when the management does make its final decision, the staff is expected to follow it without question. Should the decision turn out to be in error, then it is the management who will bear the responsibility and the consequences, not the staff.
Management should always maintain a very low tolerance threshold for any staff member who pursues a line of contentious behavior towards management. Staff should be allowed to disagree with their managers, however, not be belligerent or disrespectful, especially in a public forum. Such spoiled-brat type behavior and attitudes aimed at management usually indicate an individual only interested in seeking self-attention, and must be dealt with immediately and sternly. It is better to remove these personalities from the group quickly than to let them fester like an open wound and infect the rest of the body.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 080: Management reprimand consequences (Data, Worf)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
While Lt. Cmdr. Data, and android, is in command of the Enterprise, with Lt. Worf serving as his second in command First Officer (Number One), Data has to reprimand Worf for his behavior. The reprimand is for behavior unbecoming that of a First Officer, as demonstrated by Worf in his continual questioning of Data’s orders and by publically exhibiting his irritation when in disagreement with Data’s command decisions.
When Worf is given the directive by Data to immediately cease from such behavior, or be removed from the position of First Officer, Worf expresses his regret for the situation and requests to remain as first Officer. Data grants his request.
Given that Data and Worf have always had a good work-related friendship prior to this altercation, Data takes the time to tell Worf of his regret if this incident has ended their friendship. Worf replies, in return, that it was he who actually jeopardized their friendship and that if Data could overlook this one incident, then, he would like to continue to maintain their friendship. Data agrees to Worf’s request.
Lesson:
Management must be very forthright and quick in its dealings with staff members who are disruptive and non-conforming to office etiquette and rules. Disrespectful attitudes towards other staff members and towards management should never be tolerated. However, once the fault has been addressed and if the responsible individual expresses regret for their behavior, management must be ready to exercise forgiveness. We are all human and we all make mistakes. If the guilty party readily admits their guilt and wishes to change their ways, management must encourage this individual and not persecute them. Holding a grudge will only deteriorate the situation and the relationship. It is far more cost effective and better for all concerned, to assimilate this individual back into the group, than it is to replace them with a new resource and spend the time and effort of re-training and re-introduction into the group.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 081: Is management involvement really necessary (Picard, LaForge, Data)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Capt. Picard’s anxiety grows as his arrival at an admiral’s conference at Starfleet is severely delayed due to a malfunction in the Enterprise warp engines which has left the ship adrift. As Chief Engineer Jeordi LaForge and Lt. Cmdr. Data try to repair the warp engine damage, Picard hovers around them in the engineering section offering elementary suggestions for possible resolutions, all of which have already been attempted and failed. By injecting himself into the process, although with good intentions, Picard only manages to hinder the work being performed.
Lesson:
Managers are always required to be available to provide their staff with guidance, alternatives and hands-on assistance when needed. However, there are times when the involvement of a manager or higher level ranking personnel may only serve to delay and hinder the work progress. Especially in times of urgency, such as when deliveries fall behind schedule, or a road block is encountered in a task, or perhaps a customer is upset, there is an instinctive reaction from all managers to jump in and help resolve the situation by getting involved personally. Managers should always think twice before doing so.
First, managers must review if the problem really requires their physical presence or technical assistance; second, managers must ask themselves if they trust their staff to solve the issues by themselves; and third, managers must consider if the involvement of management might not send the wrong signal to all involved that the problem is more severe than it really is and that the staff is inept or incapable.
When staff is allowed to resolve problems by themselves, they gain a sense of pride and self-fulfillment that they accomplished something on their own, without management assistance. This is akin to the child who first toddles forward on his own two feet without being held up by an adult, or like the child who rolls down the road on his own bike without the parent running alongside, holding on to the bike. In these instances, the benefits of acquiring independence are equally shared by both the teacher and the student.
On the other hand, if the manager does not trust the staff to do the job right by themselves in the first place, then the manager has a far more serious problem than just the issue at hand. The manager needs to figure out where and how the trust was lost and fix that core problem, before trying to fix anything else.
Finally, keep in mind that staff, being respectful of managers, may not always tell the manager directly that the manager’s help is not needed. So, as managers, exercising restraint and even asking “Can I help?” may go a long way to avoiding un-necessary delays and frustrations.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 082: Managing your manager (Picard, LaForge, Data)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Capt. Picard, being frustrated by repairs to the Enterprise Warp engines delaying his attendance at a conference, keeps unintentionally hindering Chief Engineer Jeordi LaForge and Lt. Cmdr. Data from fixing the problem by continually suggesting rather elementary solutions to the problem. Noticing Picard’s desire to help is only interfering with the work in progress, a low level engineer steps forward and asks Capt. Picard if he might assist her with an engine diagnostic that she is performing with regard to the problem. Picard is elated with the opportunity to be of help, and goes off with the low level engineer, leaving LaForge and Data to complete their work without any further interruptions.
Lesson:
The situation becomes quite precarious for staff when managers micro-manage and get involved in low level work issues with the staff. The micro-manager’s help often causes more interference with work progress than the intended assistance. As respectful employees, staff members will always appear to welcome the offer of help from their managers with perhaps even a pleasant “Thank you”, when in reality they are thinking “Go back to your office and let me do my work.”
So how does the staff member politely tell the manager to “butt out” without offending the manager or even getting fired? Truth is - you really can’t. The approach here is to understand the thought process of the manager first; then the solution becomes obvious.
The manager’s goal is to get the work done. The manager steps in when they believe there is a risk of failure. The manager may see the risk of failure as due to lack of time, lack of information, lack of resources, or worst case scenario lack of talent or skills in the staff to complete the task.
If the manager’s interference is resulting out of the worst case scenario of the manager lacking trust and faith in the staff’s abilities, then there needs to be a serious discussion first, privately, between the staff and the manager, before moving ahead with anything else.
If the issue is related to time, information, resources or something else identifiable and tangible, then the staff should put the manager to work in resolving those issues with clients, vendors and other management, away from the work at hand. If the issue is resolvable by the staff without any assistance, the staff should still put the manager to work in some menial task, such as testing something or reviewing written material, anything which is not going to interfere with the work at hand.
The key is to not reject the manager’s offer of help, but to ‘manage’ the manager’s resource availability towards anything which will help the task at hand and not hinder it. In effect, this is the same scenario as a child wanting to help a parent in the kitchen with cooking or with the maintenance work carried out on a car. Even though both of these work areas can prove dangerous to a child and hinder work progress, we never want to discourage the child by dismissing their offer of help. By asking the child to mix the batter instead of cutting vegetables, or to put the tools back in the tool box instead of actually using the tools, we end up encouraging the child with their involvement towards accomplishing the tasks.
Note: Any resemblance between managers and children inferred by this discussion is purely coincidental.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 091: When to obey harmful orders (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
An Admiral on board the Enterprise orders the ship into an extremely risky and unnecessary dangerous maneuver. Capt. Picard advises against the maneuver and countermands the order. The Admiral in turn pulls rank and orders Picard to follow his orders. Picard tells Lt. Cmdr. Data to note in the ship’s log that this maneuver action is being taken over the Captain’s explicit objections and to follow through with the Admiral’s orders.
Lesson:
There may be times when we find ourselves confronted with the dilemma of having received a directive from management that we find difficult to execute. For whatever reasons we may find ourselves battling with our own conscience to follow through with the orders, we must face the fact that there is only a binary solution to this problem. Either follow the order or don’t!
Disobeying the order to satisfy the conscience and exhibiting courage in the face of serious reprimand, including dismissal, for insubordination, may appear to be the right thing to do, at first. However, it is worthwhile to explore another facet of the problem before making a quick judgment call.
If you truly believe that the order given will prove detrimental to the assignment, or to the personnel or the organization, and you have no one else supporting you in your stance, then consider the consequences of your absence from the scene, when there is no one left to protest the order. At least with your presence, and by your words and actions, there may still be a slight chance that others may listen and you may be the only standing between a bad order and a resulting catastrophe.
If you do choose to follow through with orders which go against your better judgment, it is imperative that you log your disagreement with the order appropriately, according to the established protocol within your organization. Then, just as Picard, you too can remain on hand to look out for the safety of those to whom you are loyal, whether it is the assignment or the people or the organization.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 092: Drawing the line on following orders (Picard, Riker)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Capt. Picard is forced into taking Enterprise into an extremely dangerous situation for a low level mission by an Admiral on board. Even though Picard follows through with the Admiral’s orders, Picard tells the Admiral privately, that if he (Picard) believes the risk to the ship and the crew exceeds acceptable levels for this low priority mission, then he will abort the mission and that the admiral may charge him with insubordination if he wishes, however, he will not jeopardize the ship or the lives of his crew for this simple mission.
Lesson:
When forced into following orders with which you may disagree, recognize that the one giving the orders may not really appreciate the front line realities of the situation. The hazardous risk factors to the personnel or the organization may be overshadowed by the exigency and political importance of the mission in the minds of those making the decision. It is definitely worth your while to attempt to highlight to your management that if the success of the mission results in the elimination of the personnel or the destruction of the organization, of what real value is the mission? In your personal exercise of risk mitigation in following the orders, ensuring the safety of the organization and its personnel may very well override the importance of the mission for you.
Also, you must evaluate the consequences of being charged with insubordination by not following the orders, versus following the orders to its resulting eventual disaster and being blamed for the failure of the mission, while those giving the orders originally are never held accountable and escape punishment.
Drawing the line, like Picard, and willing to accept the consequences for your actions of disobeying orders, may not always be justifiable, but it is definitely conscionable, if the motivation is the survival of the personnel or the organization.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 093: Mentoring the timid (Picard, Worf)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
A new Ensign recruit on board the Enterprise is berated by Capt. Picard for her taking part in the cover up of an accident at Starfleet academy which resulted in the death of a Cadet. The Ensign quietly accepts the scolding and fails to mention she had already paid for her wrong-doing by accepting severe punishments pronounced by the academy. Later, in a physical exercise test with her supervisor Lt. Worf, she is forced into a hand-to-hand combat with only her being blindfolded. After repeatedly being easily overpowered by Worf, she finally takes off her blindfold, objecting that the test is unfair. Worf tells her that test was indeed unfair, and that perhaps next time she is judged unfairly, it won’t take so many bruises for her to stand up and protest.
Lesson:
One of the most fulfilling tasks of management is the act of mentoring. The process of teaching the technical and procedural functions of assignments to staff is an academic process, and they can be easily accomplished with instructional guides and perhaps some personal tutoring when required. However, it is a totally another matter when managers step up to mentor their staff. There are no written rules or manuals for this function.
To mentor someone is to relate personal knowledge that has been acquired through experience; to highlight nuances in organizational behavior that is not written in the Company Policies manual; to impart wisdom in exercising proper judgment; and above all, to motivate and bring forth within the individual being mentored, qualities, attributes and strengths they possess within themselves, but of which they were not yet unaware.
Worf is the iconic mentor here, teaching the student to overcome their inhibitions, reluctances and timidity in standing up for themselves in the face unjust treatment.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 097: Management actions for the greater good (Troy)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Ship’s Counselor Deanna Troy’s efforts to pass the Bridge Officer’s Test come to a grinding halt during the very final exam, an Engineering scenario simulating an impending ship wide disaster. As the Commander in the simulation, she continually fails to stop the destruction of the ship. She finally realizes that all of her efforts to learn the technical structure of the ship and its processes are for naught in trying to pass the test, as the only solution to the problem required someone going into a fatally lethal environment to correct the problem, resulting most assuredly in their death. The real test was to see if she understood that as the commander her first duty is to the ship, in which case she would be willing to sacrifice a shipmate by sending them to their death in an effort to save the ship.
Lesson:
One of the most difficult challenges of management is to accept the inevitability of having to make dire decisions, which are in favor of the organization, but at the expense of personnel.
Good managers always want to promote and protect their staff. It is a very natural and almost parental sense of duty to the staff that compels good managers to always take actions which favor their staff. However, great managers must think at a much higher level. The highest functioning body within any organization is the organization itself. If the organization or company is seen as a pseudo-living entity which provides life giving sustenance for the personnel within itself, then it is easier to understand that if the organization dies, then none of the personnel within the organization can survive. Survival of the personnel in this case is purely metaphoric, and refers really to the continuation of their job and income, which sustain the personnel and their families.
When faced with the ultimate challenge of balancing budgets to ensure the continuation of the organization into the future, management is often faced with the dilemma of reducing expenses by eliminating personnel resources. Good organizations and managements always exercise this venue only after exhausting all other options. However, at the end of the day, or more appropriately, as the bottom line will dictate, reduction in work force (a very euphemistic way of describing the much scorned term “layoff”) is mandatory for the survival of the organization. While some managers can be quite heartless in their decision process and can arrive at this conclusion quickly with no difficulty, most managers will deliberate long and hard, relenting finally by accepting this conclusion with much dismay. In either case, acceptance of the conclusion is a must. This is where the manager needs to put aside their own personal feelings and commit themselves to the survival of the organization and terminate the unfortunate personnel within their staff.
Sacrifices for the greater good are never easy and always regrettable, no matter how necessary.
Within his first year as CEO of Chrysler, Robert Nardelli was confronted with the devastating consequences of the economic disaster of 2007-2008. In a desperate attempt to save the company, Nardelli was forced to eliminate 35,000 people from his company, 5,000 of whom he had to let go the day before Thanksgiving Day. Nardelli is quoted as saying the event was gut-wrenching and traumatic, and when facing the reduced staff in a meeting later, he found it visually haunting.
On a more personal level for each of us, the amputation of our hand or foot is almost unimaginable; however, at the onset of debilitating Gangrene possibly spreading throughout the body and killing us, the removal of the root cause area, such as a hand or foot, can often save the rest of the body. For our own survival, we would choose to relinquish the hand or foot, no matter how painful the physical or emotional consequences.
If managers see their staff as extensions of themselves, then letting their personnel go can be just as painful as Troy committing one of the crew under her command to death, just to save the ship.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 101: Diffusing uncomfortable situations (Picard, Riker, Data, LaForge)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
During a meeting of the senior officers on board the Enterprise, including Data, on the topic of assembling a new Data based on duplicate parts of Data found on a planet, everyone is fumbling around apologetically, when referring to the new Data as “it”, not wanting to offend Data. Capt. Picard interrupts the meeting to interject that while the subject matter being discussed may be sensitive in nature, they cannot proceed with the meeting with the cloud of hesitation over every question being asked or remark being made, due to reluctance in offending Data. Picard finds common ground for all to feel comfortable with the knowledge that humans are, after all, just machines too, only electro-chemical in nature. This puts everyone at ease immediately and the meeting proceeds successfully.
Lesson:
When an issue of a sensitive nature is being discussed in a meeting situation consisting of multiple people, there is quite often a tendency on the part of many in the meeting to be very cautious in their choice of words, so as to not offend anyone. In the process of trying to be so politically correct, the meeting usually deteriorates into making everyone feel very uncomfortable in saying almost anything. As this defeats the main purpose of holding a meeting, it becomes the primary task of the meeting leader to confront this uneasiness head-on, immediately and to diffuse it, so that everyone is comfortable again in having an open discussion.
By publicly remarking on the elephant in the room that everyone is trying to avoid so delicately, the meeting leader can break through the glass walls of people’s hesitation to speak. Sometimes, it may take nothing more than just the mere mention of the sensitive issue to clear up the matter, while other times, a more direct edict may be required with the stipulation that nothing anyone says will be held against them should they wish to speak up.
In the movie Anatomy of a Murder, (1959), there is a murder trial situation where, given the mores of that time, there was great uneasiness in openly discussing a female undergarment which was an evidentiary part of the trial. The judge takes quick control of the court room audience degenerating into a locker room situation by openly announcing the name of the undergarment and advises everyone present to get their silly little giggling out of their system, so they can continue with the trial at hand. Results were immediate and conclusive.
Just like Judges with their court rooms and Captains with their crew, always retain control of your meetings as the meeting leader.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 102: Relinquishing old habits and work responsibilities (Worf, LaForge)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
When most of the crew of the Enterprise comes down with flu-like symptoms, Chief Engineer Jeordi LaForge is placed in command of the ship. While in command on the bridge, LaForge receives a report of a problem from his Engineering area. LaForge immediately tells Engineering that he is on his way down to Engineering to help solve the problem. Lt. Worf, Chief of Security, who is on the bridge with LaForge, reminds him that he, LaForge, has command of the bridge and that he should let the engineers handle the problem in engineering. LaForge agrees with Worf, tells Engineering to handle the issue and report their findings back to him. LaForge then takes the time to thank Worf for the reminder.
Lesson:
It is sometimes quite difficult to let go of old ways when there is a change in status for most people.
While being promoted to a new management role brings with it new assignments and responsibilities, there is a tendency for many to drift their focus back to their older tasks and retain a desire to continue to work their older functions. If the new role requires relinquishing older responsibilities, then one must overtly combat one’s own instincts from wanting to return to their old ways.
This is even more critical on issues of a personal level, as in the case of a single person considering entering into the institution of marriage. It is definitely not appropriate to continue in many of the old ways of bachelor/bachelorette life if one is considering a life long partnership with only one person.
Letting go of old habits is not always easy, in either personal or professional lives; however, it is mandatory, if one wishes to be successful in the new venture.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 103: Recognizing personal faux pas' (Picard, Crusher)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
While Capt. Picard and Dr. Crusher are discussing the health of a visiting Starfleet Admiral, Dr. Crusher comments that she believes the Admiral is hiding something. Without thinking, Picard replies instantly that he expects those types of assessments to come from the ship’s counselor, thus implying - not from the ship’s Doctor. Dr. Crusher appears offended by this supposition. Seeing her reaction and realizing the impact of his unintended disparaging remark, Picard quickly walks over and sits next to the Doctor and asks her to be on the bridge to help observe the Admiral to confirm her suspicions.
Lesson:
One of the tenets of good leadership is to be acutely aware of the reactions of others with whom they interact. Respect of the leadership is earned and re-confirmed each day with every word uttered and in every nuance in the expressions of the leadership. On a personal level, we all expect recognition of our value and encouragement for our work from our immediate management leadership. One wrong word or gesture from management may be misconstrued as being dismissive, discouraging or even offensive. This will lead to the belief that management is not appreciative. Good leadership will always ensure that such messages are never sent erroneously. If management has made such a faux pas by their conduct then they must rectify the situation immediately through their follow-up actions and words of encouragement.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 104: Finality in closing communications (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Aliens on a cloaked planet appear unannounced and kidnap some of the children from the Enterprise, whom they intend to keep as their own, offering only their alien advanced technology information in a negotiated trade for the children. Even though the situation is absolutely unacceptable to everyone on the Enterprise, including Capt. Picard, Picard realizes he has to keep the aliens engaged in talking and negotiating, otherwise, they will simply cloak the planet and disappear with the kidnapped children forever.
Lesson:
Whether it is on a personal or a professional level, maintaining open communications is mandatory for continuing relationships and accomplishing goals. If the goals are necessary or desirable, then closing the lines of communications is a fatal mistake.
From the peace negotiating parties of nations at war, to two individuals on a quest for possible romance between them, the one underlying foundation for both is the exchange of thoughts and desires through communications. In situations where the outcome of closing dialog results in abject failure and possible loss of everything, including lives sometimes, keeping the lines of communication open is a must, regardless of the cost in pride or image.
The closing of channels of communications is permanent and helps no one. Whereas, by continuing to listen to the other side, no matter how objectionable their words may be, there is still the opportunity for reaching a solution. Compromising by just listening is a very small price to pay, especially if the alternative is enduring permanent loss. If nothing else, continuing the dialog accomplishes the retention of the most important resource of all - time. Once communications is closed, there is no more time left and, therefore, no hope of any success, ever.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 122: Assuaging fears of being alone (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
An alien peace negotiator, who is deaf, communicates with others through telepaths who are also from his own race. When his translators are killed during negotiations, the alien negotiator is panicked and rambles on feverishly in sign language, totally incoherent, not understood by anyone in the room. Capt. Picard reacts quickly to the situation by facing the alien, grabbing hold of the alien’s head with both hands and speaking directly in front of him to ensure the alien can see the Capt.’s face. With the alien eyes locked in to view the Capt’s words mouthed, Picard says clearly and with determination “You are not alone in this. We are all in this together now.” By understanding the Capt.’s words, the alien calms down immediately.
Lesson:
In any catastrophic scenario, one of the worst possible situation is to be alone. It is undoubtedly un-nerving and just down right scary, to be the sole participant in a situation where disaster is imminent and everything is out of control. Believe it or not, this is a condition many face in every day work life.
The scene presented here may seem overly dramatic for an office situation to an outsider, however, any employee who has missed a deadline, caused a serious grievous error on a project, or lost a customer can quickly identify with the feeling of mortification and numbness that ensue in these situations. Panic and loss of coherency are the first to arrive. Without support from others the fear only worsens.
This is where management must charge forward like the cavalry, to rescue not just the employee, but also the situation. Management must instill in the employee immediately that they are not alone in the event and that with the combined forces of management, they will resolve the situation, one way or another. Even if the results may not be favorable to the customer or the organization, the rescue of the employee from their quagmire is exigent. This is particularly important if the employee is the sole source of information about the situation.
There is always a great deal of comfort in knowing that one is not alone, and that there are others willing to fight alongside us.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 123: Organic nature of building confidence (Troy)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
When a deaf alien peace negotiator’s telepathic interpreters are all killed during negotiations, the alien panics and shuts down completely. He doubts he can ever do anything anymore for anyone, now that he can no longer communicate. Counselor Deanna Troy, who has been working with the alien, reminds the alien that she cannot help in the situation if he has already resigned himself to failure, for confidence is faith in one’s self and it cannot easily be given to another.
Lesson:
Without confidence, failure is almost guaranteed in any situation. Lack of confidence in any management or leadership role is totally unacceptable. We have but to ask ourselves the question, would we follow someone who is not confident in themselves and unsure of their decisions?
Confidence in our selves comes through experience and knowledge. It builds through wins and losses, and through successes and failures. Over time, we begin to recognize and understand our own limitations, and then we can target them for surmounting, resulting in greater confidence in ourselves. If we let our limitations dictate our actions, then we have embraced a lack of confidence in our judgment and even in our thought process. The absence of confidence is not easy to hide for it interprets our words and actions into semblances of resignation and failure, no matter how hard others may try to be supportive of us and try to convince us otherwise. Confidence has to come from within and not from without.
Deanna Tory is absolutely correct, in that confidence cannot be administered - only self-full filled.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 126: Importance of proper training (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
An Alien ensign on temporary assignment to the Enterprise discovers an unknown bacteria life-form has attached itself to a Klingon vessel which is rendezvousing with the Enterprise. The Ensign fails to inform anyone of his findings as it is the procedure of his species to not discuss any matter until it is fully analyzed and options for solutions are made available.
After the Klingon vessel departs, the bacteria life-form is discovered by the ship’s automatic systems as it has begun to eat away the hull of the ship. When the Ensign explains that he had discovered the bacteria earlier and felt it was not yet necessary to inform anyone, Picard informs him that it is procedure on board the Enterprise to inform command immediately of any anomaly or anything that occurs which is out of the ordinary, pointing out that the Ensign’s delay has not only endangered the Enterprise, but also missed the opportunity to inform the Klingon ship of the danger also.
Lesson:
This highlights the importance of training. Whenever new employees join an organization, it should be mandatory policy to provide training not only for the technical aspects of the job, but also for all company policies and procedures.
Every company always has certain nuances in the manner in which they conduct their business affairs. From formal business wear, to decorating personal work areas, to protocol based communications with upper management, to taking coffee breaks, to working overtime, to charging business expenses, each company has its own set of rules for employees to follow. Although violation of such rules may not bring about anything as catastrophic as the destruction of the Enterprise, however, it may very well result in something far more serious - getting fired!
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 127: Mentoring new management (Picard, Wesley)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Ensign Wesley Crusher is given his first assignment, to form a team to make a geological survey of a planet. Capt. Picard advises Wesley that for his task, the senior officers are available to help him, not judge him, and that he respects an officer who admits ignorance and asks questions rather than one who out of pride blunders forward blindly.
Lesson:
As staff employees are promoted into supervisory and management positions, it becomes critical that they are mentored properly in their new roles. In their new found rank, most individuals will do their utmost to prove themselves worthy of the promotion and in trying to do so they will usually not want to expose any of their deficiencies. Exposure is usually curtailed by not asking any questions. This may lead to wrong decisions, judgment calls or actions on their part, all of which may go unnoticed until too late.
Anyone in a supervisory or management role must be educated up front to the fact that leaders always recognize their own limitations, admit to themselves their areas of lacking knowledge or experience and are always ready to improve themselves by asking questions when needed. This is the proper and preferred method of conduct for management. It is not acceptable to blindly move forward without certainty, take stabs at getting it right and causing harm or failure, all in an attempt just to save one’s face by not exposing their ignorance.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 128: True rewards of management (Riker, Wesley)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Ensign Wesley Crusher is given his very first mission, to make a geographical survey of a planet. While selecting his team, he asks Cmdr. Riker for advice regarding the hesitation he is feeling about his team members being much older than him self and how best to handle any personality conflicts. Riker replies that Wesley’s concern is irrelevant to the mission, because the team members are all professionals, and if there is a personality conflict, then he (Wesley) is in charge and he (Wesley) should settle it. Wesley realizes that to manage the team, you not only have to understand the job at hand, but also be a counselor to the team.
Lesson:
There are always at least two major parts to every management jobs, the technical aspects and the human aspects. Many usually consider the technical aspects of management easier to manage than the people issues; however, if the right motivations and directions are used with empathy, the human factor is quite often the more personally rewarding part of the job.
The task of a Manager would be all so simple if all the Manager had to do was to stay focused on just the projects and the assignments. However, life is never that simple. As is the case in all situations where more than one human is involved, there will undoubtedly be differences in opinions. It becomes the role of the Manager as team builder, motivator and, yes, even counselor, to ensure the human experience within the group is positive. While it may be impossible to avoid conflicts amongst members within the group, it is very possible to minimize their occurrence by being resolute in addressing concerns immediately and resolving confusions long before they can grow into issues. By resolving conflicts and pulling the group together in a team spirit, not only does the work get done faster, but the people within the group find greater satisfaction in their work.
One of the best rewards of management is the opportunity to help others to recognize talents and abilities within themselves, of which they were unaware. The professional and personal growth of each member within the group, as a direct result of management involvement, extrapolates into growth of the group and the organization. Where the level of personal satisfaction for a Manager is concerned, this is why the work with the human factor can easily far outweigh the technical functional aspects of the management role.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 129: Self-imposed trepidations of management (Pulaski, Wesley)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Dr. Pulaski notices Ensign Wesley Crusher is hovering in the hallway, hesitating to walk into a meeting room. When asked, Wesley says his newly formed team for his first mission managing the geological survey of a planet is waiting in the meeting room for him and that he is nervous. Pulaski tells Wesley that once he walks in to the meeting, he has nothing to prove about his authority to run the group. She reminds Wesley that even though Cmdr. Riker may have given him the authority to lead this mission, it is now up to him (Wesley) to hang on to the authority and prove that he is worthy of the position.
Lesson:
Achieving promotion in rank is only part of the struggle. Once attained, the new manager must be ever vigilant to ensure they are performing at the top of their ability to deserve the trust conveyed upon them by upper management.
The very first meeting with the staff is always unnerving for the brand new Manager. Having come from the staff level personally, the new Manager is acutely aware of the expectations within the group. By anticipating the group’s possible challenging reactions, the new Manager will immediately drown themselves with reservations about all the areas where they are lacking in knowledge and experience, and thereby, increase their own trepidations about succeeding in their new position.
Such negative, defeatist thoughts are a total waste of time. There are always two things to keep foremost in mind in these first encounter situations between the new Manager and their staff.
First, be reassured in the fact that, with the exception of Royalty and some political Dynasties, no one is ever born into leadership. Even in the case of those born into Royalties and political Dynasties, the task of leadership is merely an inherited duty and not a quality inborn. The quality of leadership is learned, through education and experience. Therefore, the first meeting becomes nothing more than just another step in the process, undertaken by all good leaders throughout history, including your personal upper management. So regard this first meeting with your staff as just the introduction into your next class in leadership.
Second, no matter what the expectations, hostile intentions, or even disruptive influences that may be present within your staff, they are your responsibility, nevertheless. You have the power to guide them to success and the power to demote them or possibly even to dismiss them. Their jobs and career futures are in essence under your control. This in it self is a huge responsibility, not to be taken lightly. Each member of your staff is not just a wage earner for themselves but perhaps for their entire family. Therefore, their success or failure will directly impact others, including their spouse, children and possibly parents, amongst others. All of those lives are really depending on you succeeding.
Therefore, you should recognize that what you are about to step into is part of a quite natural business process and that regardless of whether the staff acknowledges that the future of their jobs are really in your hands, you must take full control of the situation. By leading this first meeting with confidence in yourself, in your words and in your actions, you will reassure everyone that you are deserving of your new found rank and that the staff can look to you for continued growth and success.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 130: Management decision making process (Riker, Wesley)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Ensign Wesley Crusher requests advice from Cmdr. Riker on issues he is having on his first assignment managing a team. Wesley is disturbed that he was unable to order his team to perform certain tests because they advised him the tests were unnecessary, even though he (Wesley) thought the tests were important. Wesley denies the issue has anything to with being intimidated or ego driven, rather it is his reluctance to give orders to people who are older than him. Wesley says he feels unsure that he is correct in his decision and that he questions why his judgment is superior to the other team members. Extrapolating on the situation, Wesley asks what if he makes the wrong decision in something more critical and ends up losing lives.
Lesson:
The lesson in this case is really taught very concisely and clearly by Cmdr. Riker himself. As such, his words alone will suffice here.
Riker answers that age difference is not relevant in the mission. He educates Wesley, that responsibility and authority go hand in hand with command and that the goal is to have Wesley make a few decisions which will lead him to a pattern of success and help build his self confidence in command. Riker warns Wesley that if he (Wesley) has no trust in his own judgment, then he does not belong in the command chair; being in command means, that if you are wrong in making a decision then you are wrong - just accept it. Riker tells Wesley that it is arrogant to think you will never make mistakes.
Height of hubris indeed to think one will never make a wrong decision. Great advice for all new managers and overconfident Managers also!
When Riker tells Wesley to always ask the question “What would Capt. Picard do?” in the situation, Wesley says the Capt. would ask everyone’s opinion and then make his decision. When Riker queries further, why doesn’t anyone question Picard’s decision, Wesley can only answer, “Because Picard is Picard” - meaning Picard’s command decision stands on its own merits and based on the Capt.’s reputation; therein, lies the answer to this question on command.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 131: Finding common ground (Picard)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Two different races of human off-springs from two different planets have the capability to help each other survive by forming a symbiotic relationship. However, while on board the Enterprise negotiating the idea of working together, one party considers the other primitive, hostile, disruptive and requiring a great deal of effort just to educate them, while the other party resents these remarks and asserts that his people have no intentions of begging the other side for their help. Capt. Picard immediately intervenes by stating that he will not allow posturing and bigotry to destroy the meeting. Seeing their respective fear of each other is based on the stark differences between them, Picard finds common ground with both parties by saying that it is the differences amongst humans that has made the human race stronger.
Lesson:
When faced with adversarial parties in a meeting, it is always advisable for the moderator or meeting chairman to seek out and highlight first, the common grounds of benefit, or possible harm, to all involved in the event the meeting should fail.
While it is the obvious goals of each party to try to get their point across, or their issues addressed, or their demands met, regardless of the consequences on the other party, the moderator must try to highlight the wins and losses for each side in each scenario objectively. Citing vivid living or historical examples of similar situations is always an excellent venue for the lines of discussion.
Above all, it is unwise to avoid any glaring issues, such as the intrinsic and perhaps even cultural differences between the parties involved. By embracing the differences and acknowledging their influences on the agenda at hand, both parties can at least perhaps begin to try to understand the other side and benefit mutually from the ensuing discussions.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 132: Separation of personal and professional issues (Picard, Worf)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
An old girl friend of Lt. Worf’s shows up on the enterprise as an emissary from the Klingon Empire. Worf is not happy to see her due to the old relationship of theirs, which did not end well. When Capt. Picard assigns Worf to assist the emissary on her mission while on board the Enterprise, Worf asks Picard that someone else be assigned to her. Picard asks Worf if there is any personal reason for the request. Worf answers - yes. Picard then asks if there are any professional reasons for the request. Worf says - no. Picard then pauses and just stares at Worf. Realizing the full gravity of the situation Worf quickly withdraws his request and accepts the assignment.
Lesson:
One of the more difficult items for most people to handle is the separation of personal issues from the professional environment. As humans we are all creatures of emotional habits. We react very quickly to situations, people and things based on our likes and dislikes. However, this can be detrimental in any work environment.
Overwhelming majority of people work in jobs where there is a multitude of different people from different backgrounds, beliefs and cultures. Add to that the natural human differences in attitudes, emotional disposition and personal prejudices, and we have the makings of a very volatile and disjointed work place. This is where management must step in, to constantly remind everyone that the main reason for everyone being at their job, is for the sole purpose of performing their respective functions to the best of their ability for the successful growth of the organization, and thereby, reaping the rewards personally for their efforts, financially and otherwise.
There should be no hesitation by management in advising all, that any reluctance to work with others and get along with others in the work environment due to “personal” reasons will not be tolerated and dismissal of staff is well within management’s purview as the final resolution in all such situations.
Hopefully, most personnel are as quick as Worf to recognize management’s displeasure in the staff allowing their personal matters to cloud their professional performance and judgment.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 134: Helping the underperformer (Picard, LaForge)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Low performing and under achieving Lt. Reginald Barclay in engineering on board the Enterprise is receiving a lot of bad reports about his performance. Barclay’s manager, Lt. Jeordi LaForge tells Capt. Picard that he has tried his best to help Barclay and despite all of his efforts, Barclay is just not improving in his performance. LaForge admits that it may be the best for all concerned if Barclay were to be transferred to another ship. Picard says it’s always far too easy to transfer a problem to someone else. He tells LaForge to try harder at salvaging a member of his team who needs help and find someway for Barclay to make a positive contribution. Picard goes so far as to tell LaForge to make Barclay his best friend and to get to know Barclay better. As LaForge explains that he can barely tolerate Barclay, let alone befriend him, Picard interrupts LaForge and gives him a direct order to put his personal discomfort aside and help Barclay to improve.
Lesson:
This is one of the foundational tenets of great leadership and management.
A driving principal of great management and leadership is to recognize that everyone deserves proper guidance to produce their peak performance, and that everyone has something to contribute to the task and the organization.
In order to recognize if an individual is right for a position, it is fundamentally important to find the optimal performance level of the individual. Part of the management duty is to provide mentoring to help individuals to rise above their current limitations to meet their objectives. The final goal of leadership and management is to find the right fit for the right individuals within the organization.
It is important to exercise caution when evaluating the appropriate fitness of individuals based on their performance. Much like the categorization of apples and oranges, evaluations must be carried out with varying degrees of measurement.
An employee working strictly an 8-hour day and never expending any extra effort, even in the face of fire-drill situations, may not necessarily be an under performer or under achiever. If the quality of their work during their regular 8-hour work-days is exemplary, then allocate their responsibilities accordingly, never requiring any more from them. However, be sure to parallel the individual’s recognitions and rewards accordingly, with a plateau in promotions and any future salary increases, for such benefits belong to only those who perform above and beyond expectations.
In the case of true under performers and under achievers, too often do they get overlooked and passed by, by those in charge of their future.
This is one of the calamities of today’s education system. Too many kids end up graduating High School with out learning to even read or write, just because their teachers were incompetent and too lazy, and passed them off to the next class without ever trying to help the child to improve.
In the movie, A Few Good Men, it was clearly noted in several scenes that it was the duty of fellow Marines, and especially officers, to help underachieving recruits in improving their level of performance. Simply transferring the underachiever to another division was not acceptable. Although the “Code Red” disaster took center spotlight in the movie, the underlying notion of not bypassing failing individuals still prevailed, right up to the final scene.
Passing the buck in the responsibility to properly mentor says more about the inability and ineffectiveness of the manager to manage, or teacher to teach, than the individual staff member or student to perform properly.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 135: Dangers of nicknames (LaForge, Data, Wesley)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
While on a break with Lt. Cmdr. Data and Lt. Jeordi LaForge, Ensign Wesley Crusher refers to fellow worker Lt. Barclay (who is not present) as “Broccoli”. When Data asks why Barclay is being referred to clandestinely as a vegetable, Wesley laughs and says it is a nickname used as a joke. Data says nicknames are defined as generally denoting fondness and something shared between friends; however, that it does not appear to be so in this instance. Recognizing Data’s clear explanation of the insulting nature and impact of the nickname, LaForge immediately orders everyone to stop using that nickname ever again.
Lesson:
Admittedly, at one point or another, in each of our lives, we have either witnessed, or been the architect of, or a collaborator of, or been the victim of such comments. While this may be a matter easily laughed off and dismissed by many, for others, the end results can be very scarring and sometimes quite tragic.
It is the responsibility of everyone to come to the support of those maligned by such remarks. Managers and teachers, in particular, must take quick and determined measures to stop all ridicule or belittling comments against other staff, management, students and teachers, respectively.
While at first such name calling may produce an air of levity, it may quickly spread through out the locality through gossip and rumors. If the negative comments ridicule a religion, political party, foreign culture, ethnic group, or such, then, the problem is group-targeted and may cause wide-spread dissension, but, it reflects more on the bigotry of the one making the comments than anything else.
However, the problems are more insidious and harmful, when the negative name calling is directed at any one individual. In this instance, only one person is targeted with the insults and, unable to confront the masses alone, the victim will feel insecure and begin to withdraw from the group and perhaps even from society as a whole. We have all either seen or experienced this situation personally in our school lives.
Yes, name calling is definitely a form of bullying.
We are all too aware of the consequences of such actions. The victim will either resign themselves to accepting the demeaning attitudes of others, forming inferiority complexes and sinking into some form of depression, resulting maybe even in suicide; or as we have seen far too often on the news, the victim will retaliate in full force upon his peers and any innocent victims in their line of sight with gunfire.
All managers and teachers must follow the LaForge line of action and immediately confront, and eliminate, all such name calling and bullying situations at the first sign.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 138: Bridging the gap between client and designer (LaForge
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Lt. Cmdr. Jeordi LaForge, the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise expresses in a discussion with a hologram image of one of the designers of the warp engine that he wishes Chief Engineers could be present when a ship was being designed. The designer in turn expresses the problem with designers is that they never get out into space.
Lesson:
This is a perfect example of many real life work situations. The gap between the expectations of the client/user and the understanding of the designer/builder is often quite vast.
For any organization producing a product or service, there is a mandatory requirement to bridge the knowledge and experience gap between the designers/builders and the users/customers. Too often when the customer wants a ‘widget’, the vendor delivers a ‘gadget’.
Somewhere along the lines of communications between the client and the salesman and all the intervening management and departments that are involved, before reaching the final developer hidden somewhere in the basement, left alone in the dark, what was asked for and what was delivered may end up as not being the same thing.
This is why methods of project management like AGILE, SCRUM, etc. espouse involving the customer directly with the developer/designer to eliminate misunderstanding and reduce the loss of clarity in the goals of projects.
Consider the salesman who overheard a conversation on the train that a company was having difficulty getting a client contract because they could not produce a thousand ties a week. Knowing that his company could produce such a number of ties in a week, the salesman hurriedly went into production, produced the thousand ties and approached the unknown client, with ties in hand, ready to sign the deal. To his dismay, the salesman found the client was not interested in his neck ties, but rather railroad ties.
For any business, it is imperative that clients and builders both speak the same language and clearly understand each other.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Lesson No. 140: Filtering methodologies (Data, LaForge)
Movie/TV Series: Star Trek - The Next Generation
Noteworthy Scene: (Skip to the Lesson if you're not a Star Trek fan!)
Lt. Jeordi LaForge and Lt. Cmdr. Data are studying a Federation shuttle craft which appears to have been in a battle with the Federation ally, the Klingons. Presented with the hundreds of multiple possible answers to the question of who was responsible for the attack, as evidenced by the energy pattern found on the shuttle craft, LaForge recommends using a little common sense to narrow down the search, instead of just plowing through all the possible attackers. LaForge recommends focusing in on the solution by posing the argument of who has the most to gain with the alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire falling apart. The answer was obvious - the Romulans - as he validated with a blast pattern match.
Lesson:
This methodical approach (although simple in concept), of addressing situations where there are multiple, even potentially millions of possible candidates as possible solutions to a problem, is still not practiced very well by many organizations. Given the efficiency of computers, many organizations choose to use a brute force method of canvassing all possibilities, rather than approaching issues intelligently and narrowing down the list of possibilities first.
Successful salesmen, in particular, use this approach of narrowing in on targets when marketing their product and services. Random mass mailing is usually futile and the return on investment is extremely low to almost non-existent. However, a well-coordinated, well-researched campaign strategy will result in more successes for less effort and less expenses. Through strategic deployment of marketing resources there is always a better chance of success.
Sometimes, if the list cannot be easily narrowed down based on any best candidate algorithm, then the list can at least be reduced by eliminating the worst or most incompatible candidates.
In addition to the savings in effort and cost, there is also the benefit of savings in time. In particular, as in the case with LaForge, identifying who the real enemy is in battle, before the next attack occurs, does not afford the luxury of time to filter through all possible potential enemies, even with warp speed computers.
Enter your Feedback Comments?
Back to Top
Disclaimer: This website is not associated or endorsed by Paramount Pictures or CBS Studios Inc., the owners of the Star Trek trademarks, related marks and copyrights. References to Star Trek material on this web site complies with the Fair or Acceptable Use Principle established in the U.S. and International copyright law for the purposes of review, study, criticism and news reporting. No copyright infringement is intended by this website. This website does not offer advertising facilities or generate any revenue or income for the owners of TrekAcademy.com website at this time. All original work provided on this website is the sole copyrighted property of TrekAcademy.com and may not be reproduced in any form without the express written permission from TrekAcademy.com.