08/10/2024
I read a daily subscription from Brian Kight. He is a motivational speaker for personal and professional growth. I really liked this one!
Today is the most important day of your life.
I heard an incredible but scary story earlier this week. It’s a perfect example of how to take responsibility when you don’t have control.
The story came from Captain JJ Cummings of the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, one of America’s largest nuclear power aircraft carriers. He described a situation earlier in his Naval career when he was captain of a warship.
They were navigating a channel congested with ship traffic at 3 am on a moonless night, closer to Africa than Annapolis. As he described, “It was a pitch black moonless night, and traffic in the channel was a madhouse.” A navigation officer notified Captain Cummings they spotted ship lights ahead off the front right of their vessel. Likely a tugboat in their direct path.
The navigation officer suggested changing course 10 degrees right. This would allow the tugboat to pass in front of them safely. The captain agreed and gave the command to proceed. They changed course 10 degrees right and continued on.
Some minutes later, there was a knock on the bridge’s door. A junior seaman entered. He’d been standing on the lower deck looking out over the channel. He saw the tugboat lights, but he also saw something else. He said, “Sir, we might need to change course further right. I think that tugboat might be pulling something.”
Captain Cummings made a quick observation but couldn’t be sure. He immediately ordered them to adjust their heading another 10 degrees to the right.
As the two ships got closer, the full situation revealed itself. There weren’t two ships. There were three. The tugboat was pulling a massive unlit freighter stacked full of cargo containers. No lights on it whatsoever. Completely invisible from afar on the moonless night.
They would have collided with the unlit freighter if they had not changed course a second time. It would have been a tragic disaster, likely resulting in the loss of life.
We’re all aware that we’re responsible for what’s in our control and what we’ve been assigned. We may not always own or accept that responsibility, but we’re aware of it. We’re less aware that once we notice something, we take on responsibility for it.
It was not the junior seaman’s job to make navigation recommendations. But he saw something that he knew could be a problem. It wasn’t his job, but in that moment it became his responsibility. What would have happened had he said to himself, “Not my responsibility” or “I’m sure they see what I see and will adjust”?
They would have crashed. The junior seaman would have shared responsibility with the captain and navigation officers. If he said nothing about what he noticed, he would own responsibility for a crash he could have prevented.
If you observe something — an issue, problem, risk, etc — and you don’t say something or act to address it, you are responsible for the continuation of the problem and the consequences it brings. You don’t have to be the cause of a problem to be responsible for doing something to address it.
This may be the first time you’ve thought this way. It may not feel comfortable. But it’s an accurate and disciplined standard of responsibility. I encourage you to begin activating this standard in your life. You never know what could be at stake.
Brick by brick. Do the work.
