In After Doomsday, Captain Strachey is shot dead trying to stop a fight between two of his men. Carl Donnan, the mechanical engineer, opines that:
Strathey should have provided something new to do immediately as soon as it was realized that Earth was dead;
with Strathey dead, Lieutenant Howard, the second mate, should not stand quacking but, instead, should organize the self-controlled men into an anti-riot squad, restore order, then tell, not ask, the men what to do next.
When Donnan has spoken, he finds that the more self-controlled men are looking at him. After a pause, he says, "'Okay, let's get started.'" (CHAPTER THREE, p. 39)
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, in their different ways, both Captain Strathey and Lieutenant Howard failed at the moment of crisis. It was the Engineering Officer, Carl Donnan, who had to step in and start giving the necessary orders. In effect Donnan carried out a coup and seized control of the "Benjamin Franklin." But this was one of those rare times a coup was NECESSARY.
I seriously doubt I would have been as clear headed and decisive as Donnan!
Sean
Sean,
Thanks. Email notification of blog comments has ceased at least temporarily so I have to look for comments on the blog and cannot forward notifications because there aren't any.
My thought processes are too slow for me to have any sort of leadership role.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And I have my doubts I would have the nerves and guts needed for decisive leadership.
Sean
Sean,
James T. Kirk is supposed to be a guy who can make the right decision instantly in a difficult situation.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I'm more familiar with examples from the works of Anderson: Dominic Flandry, Nicholas van Rijn, Manse Everard, Gratillonius, etc. And they were not always sure a decision they made would have been the right one--except that were times SOME decision had to be made.
Sean
Paul and Sean:
At the end of John G. Hemry's A Just Determination, main character Paul Sinclair is warned by the friend who's just become his love interest that his actions in the story have marked him as:
"...a leader of men and women, a leader who will be looked to for inspiration and guidance by the poor, benighted junior officers of the world."
Sinclair tries to scoff at this, but she continues:
"You don't believe me? Just wait. They'll look to Paul, because Paul has shown he has the guts to make tough decisions and stick to them. Things'll get tough and they'll turn to you and say, 'Paul, what should we do?' Don't blame me when that happens. You brought that little extra responsibility on yourself."
Paul is the most junior officer on the spaceship.
Kaor, DAVID!
Apologies for not seeing this note sooner! Some glitch disrupted combox notifications.
Yes, I agree there will be men like Paul Sinclair who HAVE what it takes to be good leaders. So I would expect to rise fairly rapidly thru the ranks to higher commands.
At least to as high as they wish to go.
Sean
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