Royal Order of the Duck Rules for Effective Communication

The world we live in today presents us with more challenges to effective communication than at any time in history. Modern electronic devices, the speed at which most people live their lives, and cultural challenges in a shrinking global economy provide daily examples of the problems we increasingly face in effectively communicating with each other. […]

FBLA: A brighter future for America

In about two hours, I will be leading the first of three training sessions for part of a group of 3800 students in Hershey PA. We are going to focus on communications and leadership. The title: “Leading is easy… getting them to follow you is the tough part.” Needless to say, even thought I served […]

A new day

Today was a special day. My business web site went live today! I will still continue to add stories and commentary to the Lean Submariner but the website bobmacpherson-speaker.info is my way to satisfy my passion for business process improvement, training services, and speaking. Check it out if you get the chance. In the next […]

The Submariner

Looking back over the last forty years, my thoughts of what a good submariner looks like have become much clearer. I have not been on a boat for over twenty years but there are some things that still stand out even through the haze of the years. I should tell you that I greatly admire […]

SSN 711 – That fateful day on January 8th

In January 2005, an event happened on the USS San Francisco (SSN 711) that serves as a reminder that even in this day of modern technology and science, the ocean is still mightier in its capability to test man’s limitations. On January 8th 2005 at 0243 GMY, she collided with a sea mount resulting […]

SWOT you talkin’ about Willis?

I am taking a break from the cares of the world today and having a little lean and continuous improvement fun. The old TV show Different Strokes is pretty appropriate for a day like today. It was fiction of course, but you get a 1%er taking on the responsibility to raise a couple of kids […]

Dereliction of Duty

One of the worst things I can imagine a service member doing is being guilty of dereliction of duty. We all take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution. When we are derelict in our duties, there are military laws which judge us and rightly so. People depend on us to defend them […]

If you want jobs, quit b!tching and join the 21st century

The name of this blog is the lean submariner. Most of the stories I write are based on leadership and submarines because those are my passions. But I am afraid for my country. Without embracing new strategies and new methods, we will lose the rest of our manufacturing capability at the very time we may […]

If you are going to lead, LEAD!

You and your team are standing outside of a burning building. The fire isn’t very big yet but its obvious that it has the potential to become a major conflagration. Time is a key element in any damage control situation. Yes, it’s important to understand the threat in order to apply the right resources and […]

The Old Metal Box

We have moved 18 times in our thirty one years of being married and I moved quite a few times before that dating back to 1972. As far back as I can remember, I have kept two things with me in all of those moves. One is a tattered old World Atlas that I faithfully […]