Leadership, the Final Frontier: Lessons from the Captains of Star Trek

Abstract

As the other articles in this issue of "CrossTalk" illustrate, the various Star Trek series affected more than their legions of devoted fans. The shows inspired technological developments and taught lessons in diversity and diplomacy. To do that, the shows need(ed) strong central characters that audiences can believe. Foremost among the characters were the five starship captains. Each of them had unique challenges, personalities, and approaches to managing their ships. The individual captains brought different styles to their commands, and each of their styles provided examples and lessons for managers in today's world. Software project managers can learn lessons from the Star Trek captains and how they dealt with different situations. The authors look at the advantages and disadvantages in the approaches used by each Star Trek captain and how managers can use the lessons taught by them. They look at each of the captains in detail and in chronological order as they appeared on the television screen: James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisco, Catherine Janeway, and Jonathan Archer.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA488313

Entities

People

  • David R. Webb
  • Paul Kimmerly

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Co-Channel Interference
  • Communication Channels
  • Deep Space
  • Electronic Mail
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Leadership
  • Lessons Learned
  • Marine Corps
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personality
  • Program Management
  • Project Management
  • Software Development
  • Standards
  • United States

Readers

  • Military History
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).