All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Watching Star Trek by Dave Marinaccio is a fun book that proves that the Star Trek ethos can be a valuable resource for finding answers to any problem. The most valuable takeaway I learned from The Original Series was what it means to be a leader. Captain James Tiberius Kirk is my fantasy model for running a tight ship, and this is what I admire:
Kirk always knows how everything works. The Enterprise NCC 1701, a Constitution Class Starship with more than 400 crew members, is a complicated piece of engineering. Yet, it always seems that Kirk knows how to run every piece of technology and is comfortable venturing into the ship’s bowels in the most dangerous situations to make repairs to systems himself. That’s how he was sucked into the Nexus in Generations, trying to repair the shields. Sure, Spock has a superior intellect, and Scotty knows the ship’s schematics like the back of his hand, but there is never any doubt that Kirk can talk technobabble with them. And if a crew member is stunned or disabled on the bridge, Kirk almost immediately jumps to their workstation to man the console.
When things go awry at AURAS, I have always felt it was important to be able to jump in and help, whether it was a problem with a Mac or some obscure setting in InDesign that caused trouble for a designer. While other studios use IT companies to set up their computers, we have always relied on doing it ourselves, including running complicated scanning, imaging, and film production tech. Kirk taught me that having a solid understanding of how things work has enabled us to change and grow.
Kirk always looks for ways to win. “Not chess, Mr. Spock. Poker. Do you know the game?” Kirk says in The Corbomite Maneuver. Finding solutions to knotty problems, and beating almost impossible odds, he is not above cheating a bit, as he demonstrated when he rigged the Kobayashi Maru exercise during his training at Star Fleet Academy. Still, even then, he knew he would get caught. Captain Kirk takes responsibility for finding solutions that can work, using his experience, intuition, sense of human nature, ability to weigh possible outcomes from his choices, and appraising the advice and skills of his crew.
Winning isn’t everything. Striving to win is what’s important, and inspiring designers to do their best work is my responsibility. That’s why building a studio in an old Mason’s Hall was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That is why treating people generously and fairly inspires loyalty and hard work. AURAS has always carried full health care benefits, paid for parking, celebrated birthdays, and believes in the occasional mental health day. That is why I have avoided the advertising agency model because I’m not too fond of the distance it creates when an agent is between the client and the designer. It may not be as lucrative, but it is more fun.
Kirk looks for opportunities and exploits them. Commodore Decker didn’t die in vain when the Planet Killer destroyed his shuttlecraft in The Doomsday Machine. Even onboard the ruined USS Constellation, Kirk noticed the energy fluctuation as the small craft was consumed. He realized that, by using the damaged Constellation’s warp core as a much bigger bomb, there might be a chance to destroy the destroyer.
Looking for opportunities and taking calculated risks is how AURAS grew. When it looked like desktop computers would devastate typesetters and designers, we took a chance to build our own digital future. When we bought a nearly-derelict Mason’s Hall in languishing downtown Silver Spring as our new studio, it wasn’t the daring risk many people believed. Instead, it was a fantastic chance to help ourselves and our community grow at the same time.
Kirk has a wry sense of humor. Kirk is not above a practical joke. He certainly was amused when Scotty beamed all the Tribbles infesting the Enterprise over to the Klingon ship in The Trouble with Tribbles or created 500 android copies of Harvey Mudd’s nagging wife in I, Mudd. He enjoys the sparring between Spock and McCoy because he knows that they have each other’s back when it really matters.
“All work and no play” doesn’t make Jack a dull boy— it makes Jack a dissatisfied designer. A better adage is, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life “and humor is an integral part of the process. Once, we placed an ad for a designer with a Twin Peaks theme and received all sorts of clever, funny things back, including a nude Barbie doll wrapped in plastic with a resumé attached—and lots of doughnuts. (I guess it shows my age.)
Kirk knows what he wants. Forced to become a desk jockey at the Federation with his promotion to Admiral, Kirk chafes in the role and longs for the opportunity to helm a starship again. Even Spock says, “Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny.” Even though it means a demotion, Kirk is only truly happy when he is in the Captain’s chair. He makes decisions based on a moral code that stands for the best and most optimistic opinion of mankind and sticks to it, even when it is not the most practical choice. Sure, after building a primitive gun and knocking out the Gorn, he could’ve killed him with a rock, like he was supposed to, but he just-would-not.
Happiness is a warm puppy only if you love dogs. Knowing what you want and how you want to live each day matters. I never liked a long commute, so AURAS has always been a short trip from my home. At one point, it was only a five-minute walk that was maybe too close. I always wanted to decide my own path, and that meant having my own business. Even when partnerships or opportunities at national studios were offered, I wanted to do what I wanted. Having been offered redesign jobs by the NRA and NEWSMAX, I was happy to Just Say No.
My first best destiny is to be a designer. Running my own studio is the best way I could figure out to do that. I have always felt that a good creative director requires three things: setting an example through practice, encouraging creatives to find multiple solutions to design problems, and not stopping after one that might be “good enough.”
While I endeavor to follow the traits of the Captain of the USS Enterprise, one thing I can’t accept is doing all of these heroics with my shirt ripped off. Leadership only goes so far.
