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"Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear,
but forgetting where you heard it."
-Laurence J. Peter
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"Read not to contradict and confute,
nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider."
-Francis Bacon
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A Royal Navy captain restored my faith in the integrity of my fellow man. Early July 2002
his ship, the British destroyer HMS Nottingham, hit Wolf Rock in the waters surrounding Howe Island
in New Zealand. Ironic, for the island was named after the Lord of the Admiralty who discovered it. But that´s
not my point, of course.
What made me instantly like Richard Farrington was that he took full responsibility for the incident.
Without any hesitation. "I´ll be court-martialled, and will probably loose my job",
he is supposed to have said after having told the press that he accepted responsibility for the incident.
"Serves him right," you might think. "Running expensive navy ships
aground should be punished." I suppose so. But there are extenuating circumstances. For instance, the ship ran
aground immediately after the captain had just come back aboard, after having been to the island. Who do you think
commanded the ship when the captain was away? Not the captain, so much is certain. And yes, officially the captain
is responsible for everything that happens on the ship, especially as long as he is on board, even if he has
only just come aboard. In view of the latter fact, one would suspect that the second in command,
or whoever he had given the command while he was away, would have been the one who made the fatal error.
But Captain Farrington does not even hint in that direction. He accepts full responsibility. I like that. He doesn´t
point the finger to anyone else. He doesn´t whine about unusual circumstances. He doesn´t hide behind the weather,
the whims of the sea, or anything like that. He just stands there, as the captain, and says he´s responsible.
In a column in an English newspaper, I can´t remember which (it wasn´t one of my favourite newspapers,
I just happened to read it in a sandwich shop), some interesting observations were made.
The author clearly was just as impressed with this captain as I.
And then he says that this kind of integrity is rare nowadays. And I agree. Take politics, he said. If
Captain Farrington had been a politician, he would have blamed the crew. Or the ship. Or the sea. Or the weather.
Or, even worse, he would have denied the accident happened at all!
There´s something in that. In politics, and in other walks of life, nowadays, it seems all everyone wants to do, is to try and keep his or
her position as long as possible. Regardless of whether that is in the country´s interest or not. If only
politicians, and everyone else, could have that kind of integrity! Oh well, back to reality...
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Merriam Webster´s definition of integrity:
"in·teg·ri·ty. 1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values :
INCORRUPTIBILITY. 2 : an unimpaired condition : SOUNDNESS. 3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided
: COMPLETENESS. synonym HONESTY.
For more information about serious mistakes made by the Navy, see Naval Blunders, by Geoffrey Regan.
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Disclaimer
This column is only for the purpose of entertaining, educating or
giving food for thought. Any persons, characters, countries, institutions or groups
mentioned are - as a matter of principle - fictional: any resemblance to existing ones is
purely by chance. ;-)
If the content of this column offends anyone, please accept the
columnist's apologies: no offense was intended.
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column noun
1a: a vertical arrangement of items on a page
b: a vertical section of a printed page
c: an accumulation arranged vertically
d: a department or feature (as of humor, sports,
literary reviewing, or gossip) in a newspaper or periodical, under a permanent
title and generally reflecting the writer's individual tastes and point of view.
2: a supporting pillar
3: a form, structure, or formation shaped like a column
(Webster's Dictionary.)
Relevant reads:
 
The Navy
 
Accident Prevention on
Board Ship at Sea and in Port: An ILO Code of Practice
 
Integrity
 
Hypocrisy and Integrity:
Machiavelli, Rousseau, and the Ethics of Politics
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