Novel: Captain's Share.

Novel: Captain's Share.
Author: Nathan Lowell
Rating: 5 of 5

These books aren't subtle. But, they are really fun.

Our Hero Protagonist, Ishmael, finally gets a command of his own. He gets the worst ship in the six-ship fleet he works for, and immediately turns it around.

Of course he does. Ish is good like that. Counting Ish, there are eight crew members, including:
-- A cargo chief who doesn't pick cargoes. Ish empowers him to actually do his job.
-- A sailor with imagination, but who is unruly. Ish gets him under control by challenging him to beat the cargo chief at picking cargoes. "I could pick better cargoes!" "Oh yeah? Cool, prove it."
-- An engineering chief who talks like a child as protective camouflage. She loses this as the ship becomes a safer space.
-- An XO who talks too loudly due to hearing loss and not knowing it. Ish gets her to get her ears checked, and her entire personality changes.

There are other issues and plot and such, but these were the main touch stones in turning the ship and crew around. If you've got a good crew, you'll make money.

One thing I absolutely adore in these books is Ish's insistence that he's trying to make money. And he is, too! He knows everyone's incentives are aligned with the ship making money (everyone gets a share), so its his job to empower them to do their job.

Its a lot of how I think businesses should run: ensure employees have an immediate incentive to care about the business, management's job becomes empowering them, and everyone wins.

One moral of these books is: Incentives. They get the job done.