If You Want Your People To Perform, Don't Give Them Permission...Give Them Intent

David Marquet graduated at the top of his class from the Naval Academy.  After serving aboard submarines in the Atlantic and the Pacific, Captain Marquet finally earned something many officers dream of - his own command.  Marquet was handed the keys to one of the finest boats in America's fleet - the fast attack submarine, USS Santa Fe.  Stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, this was a great honor indeed. But there was a catch.  The crew Marquet inherited was the lowest performing crew in the US submarine fleet.

But it didn't stay that way.

In just a short period of time, things turned around.  A lot.  Very quickly Captain Marquet's submarine became the highest performing crew in the fleet.  Scoring the highest marks in a number of metrics, Marquet's crew went on to win a number of distinguished awards.

 All to often, those in leadership positions too quickly blame poor performance on the people around them.  That may be the true in some cases, but more likely than not, it's the leadership that failed to produce results.  In the case of Capt. Marquet, it was all about the leadership.  And what Marquet did was change the culture aboard his boat from one of permission to one of intent.

The Navy is a permission based culture.  Before a sailor performs any act he asks for permission.  For example, "permission to dive to 400 feet."  To which the captain will reply, "permission granted"  And the sailor will acknowledge the permission and perform the task, "Aye sir, diving to 400 feet."

Marquet completely did away with this.

Aboard his boat, his sailors didn't ask permission, they announced their intentions. "I intend to dive to 400 feet, sir."  The captain was still in charge and could still affirm or deny the intention.  The task was the same.  Everything that happened, in fact, was the same.  Except aboard Marquet's boat, every action was owned by the person performing the action.  He built in accountability.  And not in the traditional sense of setting a goal and a metric and making someone responsible for achieving that goal, but in a deeper, more personal sense.  The crew aboard the Santa Fe weren't just accountable for the results, they were accountable for their actions.

We don't think of businesses as permission based cultures, but they are.  Pay close attention how people talk to each other in status meetings or when they talk to their boss.  "What do you think we should do?"  Is a common question.  "Can I...?"  "Should I...?"  "What if I...." very often precede a thought someone has.  What if companies required all employees to announce their intention instead of passively asking permission?  Imagine a status meeting in which every person at the table explains their intentions not their plans.   "I intend to call this client to apologize for over charging them."  "I intend to get the website built by the end of the week."

Nothing at the superficial level changes.  The boss is still in charge.  The tasks are the same.  But everything changes in how people feel about their jobs.  With intent, psychologically every member of the team puts some proverbial skin in the game.  They are not just accountable to some arbitrary metric, they become accountable to themselves.  An employees ability to perform is now on their shoulders. 

Intend to try this and see what happens.  The effects are felt immediately.  And the results are profound.  David Marquet proved it.  With the same people, the same resources and the same tools, simply by allowing people to have intent instead of permission, you can completely turn the boat around.

Comments

[Laurie Ellington]

Love this. From a brain science perspective, this elevates the employees sense of status and autonomy, which puts them in a "toward" state vs. "threat" state....increasing genuine
engagement!

[Femi Dada]

WOW, WOW, I am already seeing the effect in my own sense of ownership. Having to wear many hats is a challenge, from website update to sending our marketing materials and calling customers.

Just by telling myself "I intend to update our site" makes me accountable to myself. I think this would help me in getting focus on what is important.

Thanks for this great insight.

[Alik Levin]

It's too often such military practices taken to corp culture and managers direct and give orders to their reports. That seriously hurts performance and innovation spirit.
If the opposite can be done in army i am sure it's possible in corp world.
Question: why giving orders prevails? What today's managers do not adopt better techniques? What stops them adopting more inspiring techniques that make their reports perform better?
The other question - how the report can reflect on his manager technique and actually help him with this regards?

[John]

I've really enjoyed your blog as well as your interview posted at truenyc.com.

An extension of the approach you've described outside of the work place may be another valuable angle to examine. I would imagine that those in the habit of intention, as opposed to permission, at work take a more active role in their communities and drive towards what they deem positive change and growth in their daily non work environments.

Thanks for your posts. I will continue to follow along.

[Erik]

As a young professional I've fallen into the trap of asking "What do you think we should do?" "Can I...?" "Should I...?" "What if I...."

Starting this past Monday, I decided to implement the idea of stating my intent rather than asking for permission. I can honestly say that the results are profound. I've already noticed that my conversations with director level authority have suddenly turned from a one-way demeaning street into a two-way collaborative (and sometimes inspiring) discussion.

Thanks for this eye opener with this latest posting. My best regards to you Mr. Sinek.

[Todor Christov]

Great article, Simon, and some really useful thoughts and examples in it. I like it a lot!

I INTEND to translate and publish your post in our blog to see what our readers think about this approach. Will you support me in this intention?

Regards from Bulgaria!