“Information from other sources sheds rather a different light on the matter.” Underestimating any enemy can be dangerous

“Information from other sources sheds rather a different light on the matter.” Underestimating any enemy can be dangerous. Recently, I was browsing through the national archives and found some declassified documents dating back to the 1920’s about submarine development abroad. During that time frame, there was a great desire on all parts of the world […]

From the Archives: Anatomy of a Life Changing Seminar (or how the corporate world found ways to spend down their profits)

In 2014, I was still deep in my second career as a Continuous Improvement Lean Manufacturing Six Sigma Training and Development Change Management Leader. That career had started in the late 1990’s and I kept adding tools (and titles) to my toolbox in order to help the various companies I worked for to eliminate waste […]

Group or Team… what do you really belong to?

I belong to a writer’s circle at the community where I live I have to be honest and say that I have not been to as many sessions as I should have. The caliber of the writers is excellent, and I am trying to humbly learn how to put my words and thoughts together more […]

Nuclear Power: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963-2023)

(NOTE: This post is a big longer than my usual post, but hopefully it will be worth your time to read.) Nuclear Power: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow I was reading about the two nuclear powered aircraft carriers and their battle groups gathering in the eastern Mediterranean this week and got to thinking about when I […]

Need to improve? You need PDCA

The name of the blog is theleansubmariner. While much of my writing is based on submarines and their history, every once in a while, I fall back on my other passion which is the “lean” part of the title. Lean is a process that leads to the elimination of waste (among other outcomes), but it […]

There is no “Accident” in Team

There is no “Accident” in Team Okay, I can hear the groans. It should be “There is no i in Team”. At least until some smarty pants shows up with the poster that shows exactly where the “i” is. In this case, the word accident and team cannot stand together. Teams must be intentional or […]

Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy. Lao Tzu and the answer to Global Pandemics

Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy. Lao Tzu Before it moves, hold it, Before it goes wrong, mold it, Drain off water in winter before it freezes, Before weeds grow, sow them to the breezes. You can deal with what has not happened, Can foresee Harmful events and not allow them to be. Simple […]

Me? Stressed??? No. I am quite sure the flooding will put the fire out

One of the oldest sayings I can remember about the even temperedness of being a submariner was something that I heard a junior officer relay to the Captain during a multiple casualty on the George Washington. We had just had a very stressful few weeks in a sea tossed by typhoons and generally bad weather. […]

The Skipjack Class – Unleashing a New Kind of Sea Monster

There she blows!–there she blows! A hump like a snow-hill! It is Moby Dick! “Some of the subtlest secrets of the seas seemed divulged to us in this enchanted pond. We saw young Leviathan amours in the deep. And thus, though surrounded by circle upon circle of consternations and affrights, did these inscrutable creatures [mother […]

The Leadership Conundrum – Dealing with People

The Leadership Conundrum A conundrum is described as a problem that is difficult to deal with. The Navy spends a lot of time in the education and development of its leadership. The organization has evolved over the centuries from a very autocratic structure that involved corporal punishment to a more nuanced organization that recognizes the […]