47G’s Post

When choosing to pursue an MBA, William Chung (MBA '25), a former U.S. Army Medivac helicopter pilot, knew it would be a training ground for integration into civilian life and provide tools for future success. "At MIT Sloan, I’ve been welcomed by an extraordinary community of humble and innovative minds, all united by a drive to support and elevate each other’s ambitions." Learn more about William's time at MIT in his interview with Clear Admit! tinyurl.com/mst8fuj4

THE LIGHTHOUSE & THE CAPTAIN It was a dark and stormy night. Crewmember: “Captain, Captain, wake up.” Captain: “Well?” Crewmember: “Sorry to wake you, sir, but we have a serious problem.” Captain: “Well what is it?” Crewmember: “There’s a ship in our sea lane about twenty miles away, and they refuse to move.” Captain: “What do you mean they refuse to move? Just tell them to move.” Crewmember: “Sir, we have told them; they will not move.” Captain: “I’ll tell them.” The signal goes out: “Move starboard 20 degrees.” The signal returns: “Move starboard yourself 20 degrees.” Captain: “I can’t believe this. Well, I mean I’m a captain. Let them know who I am. I’m important.” Signal goes out: “This is Captain Horatio Hornblower XXVI, commanding you to move starboard 20 degrees at once.” Signal returns: “This is Seaman Carl Jones II, commanding you to move starboard 20 degrees at once.” Captain: “What arrogance? I mean, what presumption? Here is a seaman commanding me, a captain.                      We could just blow them right out of the water. We could just let them know who we are. Signal: “This is the Mighty Missouri, flag ship of the 7th fleet.” The signal returns: “This is the lighthouse.” That’s a true story. It’s found in the Naval Proceedings Magazine For you: 1. Do you remember a situation in your life where you found yourself in the “captain’s role,” demanding that someone else must change course? 2. Do you remember a situation in your life where you found yourself in the “lighthouse role,” knowing you couldn’t change course even if you wanted to? ''When a situation does not improve rapidly, it is often because our starting analysis is not correct.'' #management #leadership #analysis #mentality #logisticssolutions #supplychain #lighthouse #navy

A new report by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), "Rebuilding the Arsenal of Democracy" outlines well-known challenges of U.S. defense industrial production and recommends mostly similar initiatives to those of the National Defense Industrial Strategy, including: - Increased defense spending - Multi-year contracting - Strategic stockpiles - Workforce & supply chain development - Streamlining FMS Also worth noting is the emphasis on the critical need for White House leadership in the form of something like the production boards in place during WW2 era administrations. "During major crises in U.S. history, such as World War II and the Cold War, presidential leadership was essential. Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and others were pivotal in providing the leadership, strategic vision, organization, and funding to revitalize the defense industry." https://lnkd.in/ehepyWT9  

I had the pleasure of attending the Surface Naval Association Symposium this week on behalf of Defense Unicorns. Overall the event was great but this sign at elevators (and a following interaction) gave me a chuckle. While we could comment on the need to shut things down for upgrades, I actually applaud the desire to modernize and take steps to do so. One of the side effects of the modernization in one of the elevators was that if more than 3 floors were selected, it would reset all inputs. My fellow passengers and I had a fun puzzle to solve to ensure everyone got to their floor! Luckily we got there pretty quickly after some forced collaboration :) — solution was that on the way up we’d select the lowest floors first and add each additional floor after one cleared. The immediate joke (and therefor chuckle) that came to mind was, “the hotel must be paying for the wrong subscription because selecting 4 floors is a feature of the more expensive plan”. While I’m sure we’ve all experienced frustrations around subscriptions like that, it doesn’t actually mean subscriptions are bad in my Millenial brain. I actually love subscription models because they refocus the conversation around outcomes instead of inputs that we hope lead to outcomes. I don’t love feature paywall subscription levels though :( So what do we think? Am I alone in liking subscription models when implemented well?

I read someplace the no.1 reason TOC implementations fail is leadership and managerial commitment. It’s also the no.1 reason they succeed, and the outcomes achieved by USAF and Tesseract, so capably lead by Major General Linda Hurry, are testament to the magic recipe that is motivated teams with strong servant leadership.

#HumanPotential Meet Pat Walsh, former United States #Navy four-star admiral who last served as the 59th Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Early in his career, he flew as a #blueangels pilot. I had the privilege of hearing him speak this week, and the stories that he shared were nothing short of incredible. A few key highlights that will stick with me forever. >>> With the benefit of hindsight, at its core, he describes his career as the discovery of how to unlock human potential more so than just people, technology, or flying planes. >>> When coaching and training pilots, let them know when they are out of position, and how to get into position, NOT that they are doing something wrong - his comments about how they teach new Blue Angel pilots to fly planes with only 24 to 36 inches between planes, and only 150 ft in the air.    >>> In the Blue Angels world, the show is about 45 minutes and the debrief of every show is 3 hours! They review frame by frame spending 3 times more on debriefing and teaching, coaching, and learning how to improve their performance than the show itself. WHY IT MATTERS: Are we spending enough time reinforcing our training? Are we just telling people they are doing it wrong or are we showing them how to be in position? Training takes time, and we have to be ok with the time it takes to unlock our team's true human potential. #training #resilience

Curious about the role that the military plays in tech innovation? In this fascinating discussion with guests Les Craig and Sean L. you'll get a front-row seat into the evolution of defense tech.

As the Veterans on this fall's Eastern Honor Flight prepare for takeoff, read about its importance to Crystal Group in our latest blog by our VP of Engineering: https://ow.ly/9B1a50PMJ7s.

What do investing and flying airplanes have in common? Managing risk and enhancing returns. "Before I began my investment career, I served as a military pilot in the United States Air Force. During my down time, I studied the markets and was intrigued by convertibles," shares Calamos Founder John P. Calamos, Sr. "Fast forward almost 50 years, Calamos is now the largest convertibles securities manager in the US." Read reflections from Mr. Calamos and his journey in convertibles: https://bit.ly/3tAKYZ1.

It's "All Hands On Deck" as Charles County Rallies Around the NSWC Indian Head Modernization Plan. Check out our latest blog to learn more. #economicdevelopment #communitydevelopment