“Closest to the Fire, Puts It Out”

by Marc Koehlerin Decision Making, Nuclear Submarines, Readinesson Posted on

I recently toured an aircraft carrier and saw a quote from Petty Officer Paul Lawrence that stopped me in my tracks. It echoed what I learned in the Submarine Force and what I teach in every keynote:

“Every sailor is a trainer firefighter. We drill every day. ‘Cause there’s no calling 911. No one is coming. We either fight that fire or we lose the ship.”

Basically, whoever is closest to the fire, puts it out.

That is not just a catchy phrase. It is a leadership operating principle. There is no time to pass responsibility up the chain when seconds matter. The people on the edge must be trained, trusted, and expected to act. That is how we operated 400 feet below the surface, and it is how high-performing organizations operate on land.

When every person sees themselves as a leader, your organization does more than survive pressure. It thrives in it.

Why waiting for orders slows you down

Most companies say they value speed, then they build decision paths that force everything to the top. McKinsey’s research connects speed and quality of decisions to overall performance and shows that organizations struggle most with the kinds of decisions that should be delegated or made quickly. In fact, only 37% of respondents say their organizations make delegated decisions that are both high quality and fast. 

If that sounds like your world, you are not alone. The problem is structural. Information now lives at the edge. Customer signals, operational frictions, and early risks show up first where the work happens. If leaders keep the authority far from that edge, they are choosing delay over decisiveness.

The U.S. Navy is explicit about this. Our doctrine emphasizes decentralized operations guided by commander’s intent. Trust and clear understanding of acceptable risk are the foundation. That is how you move fast without losing alignment. 

What “closest to the fire” looks like in practice

On a submarine, we trained every sailor to assess, decide, and act within clear boundaries. No one waited for the perfect information and no one hid behind rank. The mission, your role, and decision rules were clear. That allowed the person closest to the problem to solve it in the moment and to escalate only when escalation added value.

Business leaders can do the same. Harvard Business Review notes that autonomy and local decision rights increase motivation, performance, and speed, while freeing senior leaders to focus on the few decisions that truly require their judgment.

Frontline empowerment is not chaos; it is structured clarity. It demands training, explicit decision rights, and communication rhythms that keep everyone aligned.

Five moves to build a team that acts in the moment

1) Make the mission unmissable.
 People should be able to say, in plain language, where we are going and why it matters. Tie weekly priorities to that mission so no one is guessing. When the purpose is clear, decisions get faster because people know what “right” looks like.

2) Push decision rights to the edge.
 Define which decisions must be made at the top and which should always be made by the people closest to the work. Use simple rules. For example, if the risk is low and the impact is local, decide locally. If the risk is high or the impact crosses functions, escalate with a recommendation. McKinsey’s work points to the payoff when organizations sort decisions by type and move routine and delegated calls out of the executive bottleneck. 

3) Train judgment, not just tasks.
 Your people won’t act if they have only been trained to follow steps. Build scenarios with incomplete information. Let your teams practice how to think, not only what to do. Encourage quick after-action reviews so learning compounds.

4) Install tight communication rhythms.
 Daily huddles, short syncs, and clear escalation channels allow local action without losing alignment. HBR has repeatedly highlighted how effective information access for frontline decision makers increases agility and accuracy. Give people the right data and a clear cadence to share what they are seeing. 

5) Recognize the behavior you want repeated.
 Catch people acting with good judgment and name it quickly. Recognition turns isolated actions into cultural norms, and is how you sustain energy even when tempo dies down.

Common objections I hear, and how to answer them

“If we decentralize, we will lose control.”
 You already lost it if decisions stall and customers wait. Decentralization is not the absence of control. It is the presence of clear intent, defined boundaries, and fast feedback loops. The Navy’s guidance on commander’s intent exists precisely to keep teams aligned while they act independently. 

“My managers are overwhelmed. We cannot push more down.”
 Gallup shows that manager engagement has been sliding, and broader engagement is stagnating. One cause is decision overload. When you codify decision rights and build team capability, managers shift from permission-givers to coaches. That increases their capacity and improves team ownership.

“What if someone makes the wrong call?”
 They will. So will you. The goal is not perfection. It is speed with learning. Use small, reversible decisions to build judgment, then graduate people to larger calls. Debrief quickly and move on. That is how elite teams, in uniform and in business, get sharper.

The payoff when everyone leads

When the person closest to the fire is empowered to put it out, you get three advantages.

  • Speed. Problems are handled at first contact. Escalations happen only when they add value.
  • Ownership. People act like leaders because they are trusted like leaders.
  • Resilience. The system adapts faster because sensing and acting live in the same place.

McKinsey ties faster, higher-quality decision making to stronger business performance. The research is clear. The organizations that separate big strategic bets from routine calls and push the latter outward are better at both speed and returns. 

How Fast Attack Leadership™ helps

Fast Attack Leadership™ is the operating system I use to install this way of working quickly. It gives leaders and teams a shared playbook so your frontline employees can act and leadership can stay focused on big ticket items.

We translate mission into plain language. We sort decisions by type and location. We train judgment under uncertainty. We run simple communication rhythms that keep everyone aligned. The result is a culture where people do not wait for orders. They know how to act, and they know when to elevate.

That is what true leadership at every level looks like. Empowered people who respond in the moment, not because they have to, but because they know how.

Book Marc Koehler for your 2026 leadership event

If you want your organization to move from permission to ownership, I can help you put this system in place. In my keynote, I share the lessons from fast attack submarines and turnarounds, then install practical tools your leaders can use the same day.

Learn more or book me at marckoehlerspeaks.com/contact.

When the heat rises, the team that wins is the one that acts at the edge.

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