Turning a big ship around

Perhaps you’ve heard, or even used, the maxim that a large ship takes a long time to turn around but a small boat can be turned on a dime. Often this is used concerning organizations: The thinking is that small operations can withstand quick change and large ones need lots of time and careful attention before making a shift in direction.

I’ve led with that principle in mind while serving churches and organizations that spanned from very small to extremely large. And I’ve taught that principle to lots of other leaders.

But I might not have understood the full picture.

As I was reading about this issue, I discovered something interesting. While it’s true that the bigger the ship the longer it takes to turn around, it’s also true that the turn around time depends on the nature of the ship.

A cruise ship, by definition, is designed for the comfort of the passengers. Even in a critical rescue situation, getting the vessel to turn 180 degrees will take at least 10 to 15 minutes and anything faster would create huge problems, not only with passenger’s comfort, but also with the onboard systems that aren’t equipped to handle that kind of quick-change.

A battleship, however, can turn much more quickly—one to three minutes—although the faster side of that time will induce discomfort and possibly even some damage to equipment that isn’t nailed down. These ships are designed for war, where every second of maneuverability can make the difference between life and death. Every sailor is ready for this fast turnaround and the logistics of the ship are built upon the possibility that it will need to happen.

There are at least two realities that make a battleship more agile than a cruise ship:

1. Preparation: The sailors aboard a battleship are ready for the impact that comes from a change in direction. As soon as the warning goes off, they know exactly what to do. Though the navigation might disturb dinner or set a few items rolling, everyone has been trained for what happens next and is ready to go. The same movement on a cruise ship would be disastrous.
2. Purpose: The people on board a cruise ship are there to relax, while the sailors aboard a battleship are there to go to war. The purpose of a cruise ship is comfort, while a battleships purpose is powerful support and victory. A battleship will suddenly change direction for strategic or tactical military  advantage (or training for it), while a cruise ship would never have a similar purpose for turning.

I’m not suggesting that a big organization should always be turned on a dime, even if it is built for war. Nor am I encouraging “captains” of small operations to make sharp, unannounced course corrections (I fell out of a small powerboat once because someone wasn’t taking the passengers into consideration—but that’s another story).

However, I am recommending that any leader understand how prepared people are, and for what purpose the direction shift is happening, before deciding how quickly the organizational “vessel” may need to be turned around.