Naval Officer Eliminates Diversity Programs, Creates Unity Training to Bring Ship Together

 

 

 

Every now and then, somebody offers a bold new idea that seems a bit risky.

If we open our minds and listen, we might just learn something.

In his book “It’s Your Ship: Management Tips from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy” Captain D. Michael Abrashoff, former commanding officer of the USS Benfold, offers lessons learned as he built morale and a top-performing ship. 

In these stormy economic seas, who among us doesn’t have a vessel or at least a leaky boat that is in need of repair?

Some of his tips we’ve heard before: understand yourself first, praise your people, remember little things like birthdays, care about human issues and programs, build up people and recognize their achievements. The section of the book involving diversity is anything but standard operating procedure, however. His strategy there is likely to raise some eyebrows.  

Abrashoff felt diversity programs were dividing his team – rather than bringing them together. So he did a little reengineering. Rather than focus his message on differences, he focused on building unity.

This enabled him to discuss human similarities rather than racial and gender differences, and to create an organization that seeks to remove barriers for all. The objective was simple: Create a high-performing team  and an organization so good EVERYONE wants to belong. This is a change of pace from standard diversity programs, which tend to be supported by the folks who feel they will gain something and opposed by the folks who feel they stand to lose. The perception that diversity creates winners and losers has resulted in resentment, friction, and diversity fatigue. 

So here’s the Abrashoff alternative: He focused on building unity rather than diversity. (Keep in mind, representational diversity was not an issue on the ship.)

The Captain assumed full command of unity training, which sent a signal to all that this matter was of vital importance. He stressed why his team’s members should value each other instead of focusing on the costs of devaluing them. He made it clear: the ship had a zero tolerance policy for prejudice and sexual harassment. When incidents occurred, he responded quickly and dispensed justice fairly, keeping in mind the background of individuals. 

Did things get better? Abrashoff says yes. Surveys filled out by employees indicated some had a change of heart, he writes in his book. He discovered everyone wanted to be part of a team that truly cared about its members. And that they were willing to pay the price to get in. He learned it is better to create opportunities for interactions and learning rather than simply highlight cultural shortcomings and deficits.

I would argue the diversity backlash building in America is voicing strong disapproval of classic diversity strategies and messages. New thinking can and should be embraced. As Abrashoff found, skeptics might just embrace diversity if we show them they can end up as winners too.

 

Comments

[Lance_K]

Although there are lessons to be learned from a military example, applying a military tactic to the civil population isn’t easy.

In the military, especially a group of sailors at sea, the people have fewer rights than civilians, and the military has its own swift judicial system. The military, of necessity, has a strong rank consciousness. Obeying orders is a fundamental principle, compared to civilians who can do (or not do) pretty much as they please within the bounds of law. As a civilian, the worst thing my boss can do to me is fire me. In the military, disobedience can earn you time in the brig, or hard labor at menial tasks, or both. The military is a culture unto itself, and the price of admission is Basic Training, which is place where you are emotionally and physically broken down and rapidly rebuilt into a form that is useful to the military. This transformation takes the weak, the whining, and the selfish and turns them into a cohesive group that believes they can accomplish anything.

My main point is that a naval captain can proclaim to his crew, “This is how we will proceed,” and the crew must comply whether they like it or not.

Having said that, the best military leaders will seek first to lead by being respected as fair, and will seek to inspire their troops to want to follow him. But the bottom line always remains: You must obey because failure to obey could jeopardize everyone else. The success of the group requires unity – a placing of the mission above that of one’s own self. This is fundamentally at odds with American society, which places the individual above that of the community so far as the law will allow.

I am 48. I have lived in many places. Not since my childhood have I lived where there is a genuine sense of community. Neighbors run about busy with their own lives and don’t talk with each other. I experience a sense of community at church, but even there the community “forms” as we enter the church property and then “dissociates” back into the larger general public when we leave the building. My church is the most unified group I have experienced, and yet we barely scratch the surface of digging in and founding a genuine unity. It is as though Americans are so individualistic that it makes us dysfunctional as a society. Americans have no unity – we merely tolerate each others’ presence.