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No Time for Victory
For many senior Navy leaders, the crush of their daily routines leaves them struggling to find time for deliberate thought and strategic decision-making. This was not always the case.
By Trent Hone and Captain Dale Rielage, U.S. Navy (Retired)
People are the Navy’s most valuable asset. Yet the service squanders significant warfighting advantage at its most senior ranks—not by policy, but by a culture that has made the effective employment of senior leaders the exception rather than the norm.
In 2017, the U.S. Navy suffered two major collisions, losing 17 shipmates as a result. Throughout the various reviews, investigations, and lessons learned, time was a major theme. Crews, wardrooms, and commanding officers lacked time—for training, for thinking beyond the next requirement or evolution, and even for sleep. Not surprisingly, resulting recommendations focused in part on managing time more effectively and creating rhythms that integrate human needs with mission requirements.
The reality, however, is that the Navy’s time management problem is not restricted to the afloat forces or to its hardworking junior ranks. For many senior Navy leaders, whether in operational or staff assignments, the normal routine leaves them suboptimized for high performance and struggling to find time for deliberate thought and strategic decision-making. Almost universally, they rue their inability to work on the “important but not urgent,” lack time to read and think, much less to effectively communicate their thoughts, and are taxed to find time for the toughest issues that the service must address across all echelons.1 The Navy’s view of time needs to change.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/may/no-time-victory
For many senior Navy leaders, the crush of their daily routines leaves them struggling to find time for deliberate thought and strategic decision-making. This was not always the case.
By Trent Hone and Captain Dale Rielage, U.S. Navy (Retired)
People are the Navy’s most valuable asset. Yet the service squanders significant warfighting advantage at its most senior ranks—not by policy, but by a culture that has made the effective employment of senior leaders the exception rather than the norm.
In 2017, the U.S. Navy suffered two major collisions, losing 17 shipmates as a result. Throughout the various reviews, investigations, and lessons learned, time was a major theme. Crews, wardrooms, and commanding officers lacked time—for training, for thinking beyond the next requirement or evolution, and even for sleep. Not surprisingly, resulting recommendations focused in part on managing time more effectively and creating rhythms that integrate human needs with mission requirements.
The reality, however, is that the Navy’s time management problem is not restricted to the afloat forces or to its hardworking junior ranks. For many senior Navy leaders, whether in operational or staff assignments, the normal routine leaves them suboptimized for high performance and struggling to find time for deliberate thought and strategic decision-making. Almost universally, they rue their inability to work on the “important but not urgent,” lack time to read and think, much less to effectively communicate their thoughts, and are taxed to find time for the toughest issues that the service must address across all echelons.1 The Navy’s view of time needs to change.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2020/may/no-time-victory
