Watching Cobra Kai on Netflix, I was thinking about how this highly unrealistic show could be applied in the real world. Certainly, basketball coaches shouldn’t covert their clubs into gangs that brawl with their neighbourhood rivals but I thought of some other ideas and sent them to the Internet. Spoilers after the break.
Star Trek Leadership, Part VI: Chain of Command
The simmering Federation-Cardissian tensions come to a boil in “Chain of Command.” Edward Jellico replaces Jean-Luc Picard as captain of the Enterprise and everyone feels the stress from a rocky leadership transition. In this case, leaders can learn what not to do by noting the consequences of poor choices made by Starfleet and its officers. A conflict between Captain Jellico and Commander William Riker distracts from the key objectives, endangering millions of lives. Radical Honesty As the episode navigates towards the climax, Jellico needs an expert shuttle pilot for a dangerous mission. He speaks with every shuttle pilot onboard and …
Star Trek Leadership, Part V: Dealing with Disaster
For me, one of the fascinating aspects of Star Trek: The Next Generation is their collaborative problem solving. All team members have a role to play and everyone’s best efforts are integral to success. Characters don’t come to blow, there are few battles between egos and situations must be analyzed critically. In the episode “Disaster”, the Enterprise is impacted by quantum filaments and all members of the bridge crew must step forward and lead. Delegate Responsibilities: Captain Picard is stuck in the turbolift with three children who received top honours in a recent science fair. Children have long been a …
Star Trek Leadership, Part IV: Overcoming the Odds
Leadership assumes many forms: some lead by example and others delegate while standing by the side, some issue precise instructions and others leave room for creativity, some focus solely on the outcome and others emphasize following the correct process to get there. During the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Peak Performance,” diverse crew members must act as leaders and determine what philosophy suits them best. A Starfleet battle simulation places Commanded Riker in charge of the antiquated U.S.S. Hathaway. Accompanied by a skeleton crew, Riken is given forty-eight hours to prepare for a war games exercise against Captain Picard …
Star Trek Leadership, Part III: Starfleet Academy in the Delta Quadrant
Star Trek remains extremely popular because of how the stories are analogous to many modern situations. It is a science fiction genre that does not overwhelm the viewer with technology; the characters – and humanity – remain the focal point. During a syndicated episode of Voyager entitled “Learning Curve”, Lieutenant Tuvok encountered Maquis crew members who were unwilling to follow Starfleet routines. The renegades were incorporated into Voyager’s crew after both were stranded in the Delta Quadrant although the partnership was not working entirely smoothly. Starfleet demanded strict adherence to procedures which was a stark contrast to the Maquis philosophy …
Star Trek Leadership, Part II: The Wisdom of Captain Picard
College coaches may send envelopes full of money via Emery Worldwide, professional coaches may be found guilty of sexual harassment forcing their organization to pay $11.5 million in damages, and international coaches may enter a non-disabled team in the Special Olympics but one person can always be relied upon for his leadership is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise. During a recently rerun episode of The Next Generation, Chief Engineer La Forge and Commander Riker submitted and unsatisfactory performance review for Lieutenant Barclay to Picard. The captain ordered the pair to reconsider their evaluation of the socially awkward lieutenant. It was …
Star Trek Leadership, Part I: Humans and Klingons
When Commander Riker volunteered to serve aboard the Klingon vessel “Pagh”, he encountered several challenges as he adapted to the new environment. Star Trek frequently used a utopian vision of the future to show how humans can better interact the episode “A Matter of Honor” is no exception. As a participant in the Officer Exchange Program, William Riker enters a new culture and must judge when he must adapt and when he must stand for his convictions, as a Benzite named Mendon does likewise as the Enterprise’s science officer. At first, he displays a tough exterior to his new shipmates …
ESPN: The Uncensored Story
Michael Freeman’s book about the birth of ESPN offers many lessons about entrepreneurship and marketing, largely focused on persistence and the benefits of competition. Many people turned down the concept of a 24/7 sports network yet the founder Bill Rasmussen kept pushing because he believed that he had a good idea. The networks at the time were extremely myopic in their vision for the future of television which permitted cable networks like ESPN, CNN, and HBO to steal countless viewers, talent, and advertising revenue. Whilst the new blue-chip brand’s humble beginnings were fascinating, the amount of alcoholism, sexual harassment, gambling, …
Sports on Television
When I watch sports on television, why must the announcers spent countless moments discussing minutiae absolutely irreverent to the game? What function do sideline reports serve? Why do commentators feel the need to speak as if the viewers are a gang of mush-heads? For example, why was Matt Leinart’s dad shown repeatedly during the 2006 Rose Bowl? It seemed as if he was on the screen more often than his son, who was quarterbacking the Trojans. Since Mr. Leinart wasn’t the player who came up inches short on fourth down nor did he score the winning touchdown with nineteen seconds …