Many people say that watching TV and movies is a waste of time. I beg to differ. I have learned a lot throughout my life, watching countless hours of television. Whether it is watching sports, episodes of Survivor or Game of Thrones, to Star Trek, I firmly believe that lessons can apply to both life and business. In this post, I am going to focus on the latter, Star Trek. Growing up watching Star Trek, one of the most profound leadership lessons I learned was that sometimes you need to blow up the ship to move forward.
Blow Up The Ship
Captain Kirk is and remains one of my greatest heroes. Getting the opportunity to meet William Shatner at the Star Trek convention in 2011 was one of my life highlights. I have a picture of the two of us together proudly displayed on my home office wall. Throughout the TV series and movies, Captain Kirk was always trying to save his crew from nearly impossible situations, cleverly outwitting opponents and coming out better on the other side.
In the third Star Trek movie, The Search for Spock, Captain Kirk had to blow up the ship, the Enterprise, the one thing most important to him, to save his crew from the Klingons as he had no other options.
How Does This Relate To Being Management?
There are times when we are working on projects or teams that are not working. Despite best efforts and multiple attempts to right the course, there are sometimes no alternatives than literally blowing up the ship and starting over — canceling a project that will not be successful, instead of wasting more time, money, or effort. Making tough decisions like breaking up a team by removing members that are not the right fit is another example. The decision to blow up the ship can be tough but necessary sometimes to better all involved.
Some Advice
It can seem drastic, but blowing up the ship might be the best option available. As Spock says throughout a couple of the Star Trek movies, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.” Deciding to make the tough call to start over, build something completely new, or challenge existing processes is tough. Make sure that the decision to do so is not taken lightly. Once the ship is blown up, there might not be a chance to go back. Sometimes it feels like there are no-win scenarios but choosing the best of the worst options available is something you might need to do. Aim to choose the option best suited to yield a successful outcome for as many people as possible.
Being in charge is not always easy. Sometimes tough decisions need to be made. You are not alone as there are always resources available to help you throughout your management journey.
