Open Thread

Thought of the day.

Why is the Littoral Combat Ship transformational? It has nothing to do with technology, rather it has everything to do with people. USS Freedom is the only ship in the entire fleet that operates as a flat organization. Sometimes you are the leader, sometimes you are the follower.

It is proof that in the hierarchical world of rank in the US Navy, flat organizational structures will work. What makes flat structures better than traditional horizontal organizations? Each node gets more experience and gains more knowledge because each node has more access to relevant information, and the development of the people who not only do more, but learn more and in more efficient ways will make the network stronger over time. It will take time for people to adjust to this major change that some will never fully understand.

It will also strain the system down the road, because a LT who served in the Hybrid Crewed ship flat organizational will have more knowledge and experience in just about everything after a single tour than a LT who serves in the traditional organizational structure within the rest of the surface fleet. The differences will be striking and obvious, and it will divide the culture if the SWO community doesn't recognize the need to plan for the ramifications of this emerging reality.