Recently I had the opportunity to visit the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier while it was sailing 200 miles off the coast of Mexico. Yeah, this was the same navel vessel that assisted the crippled Carnival cruise ship Splendor. You may have seen that on the news.  The crew was all-abuzz over their fifteen minutes of fame and they soaked it in like Hollywood movie stars on the red carpet. Now that I am back, people continue to ask me what it was like to land and take-off from the flight deck of a super carrier, the exact same way the F-18 fighter jets do. (Cue the song: “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins.) Each time I say it was one of the best thrill rides I’ve ever experienced.

But what impressed me most about my two days at sea were all the things that happened below the surface of the ship.  In many ways, I was reminded of this business, in that most people only see what’s on the outside. They marvel at the ideas taking off, sometimes in dramatic fashion, and they stand back and watch as these ideas hit their targets somewhere off in the horizon. But in order for these operations to work flawlessly and with exact precision, everyone has to have the same objective and everyone has to be all that they can be.

After a terrible first night’s sleep on the ship, which required earplugs and a thick pillow to defuse the noise from jets taking off and landing just above my head, I had breakfast with a group of sailors who impressed me to no end.  These were the men and women who epitomized the notion that it “takes a village.”  (With 6,000 sailors on the ship, it is quite literally a floating village.) When asked about their responsibilities they got very excited and wanted to share. They said things like, “I maintain the high-pressure steam activated catapult system, which ensures the planes take off safely.” “The missions could not be completed without my assistance in coordinating the multi-functional satellite augmentation system.” “The planes hit their targets because I’m responsible for the guidance systems on the missiles.” Wow. No navy of one here.

These folks really loved what they did and understood that while they may not be the ones in the cockpit with nicknames like “Goose” or “Ice Man” or “Maverick,” they’re every bit as important. I think that’s the key to our success in the communication business, too. When our clients are happy it’s usually because of the amazing skills of those who work out of the spotlight, below the decks; people who love what they do and recognize the importance of their individual responsibilities. These are the people who claim authorship — and should claim authorship — to a successful web campaign, Facebook contest, TV spot, public relations event, and more.  i.e.: A successful mission.

Pondering this, it reminds me of the old 1969 story about a NASA janitor who, when asked what he did at Cape Canaveral, simply said, “I’m going to the moon.”