“The goal is to have the people who are responsible for the work be the ones who are deciding how to do the work.” – L. David Marquet
Of all the changes Marquet introduced aboard the USS Santa Fe, one stands above the rest in its simplicity and transformative power: replacing the phrase “Request permission to…” with “I intend to…” These three words became the engine of the leader-leader revolution.
In the traditional Navy, a sailor who wanted to take action would approach a superior and say, “Captain, request permission to submerge the ship.” The captain would evaluate the request, and if satisfied, would say, “Very well, submerge the ship.” The sailor would then carry out the captain’s order. In this model, the captain is the decision-maker. The sailor is merely the implementer.
Marquet flipped this entirely. Under the new model, the officer would say, “Captain, I intend to submerge the ship.” The officer would then lay out the reasoning, the conditions, and the safety checks already completed. The captain’s role shifted from decision-maker to advisor: “Very well” meant the captain agreed with the officer’s decision, not that the captain was granting permission.
The shift from “request permission” to “I intend to” changes everything:
The transition did not happen overnight. At first, officers stumbled over the new language. They would start with “Captain, request permission to…” catch themselves, and restate: “Captain, I intend to…” Marquet was patient but consistent. Every time someone reverted to the old language, he would gently redirect them.
One of the most dramatic early tests came during a surfacing drill. The officer of the deck approached Marquet and said, “Captain, I intend to surface the ship. We have completed our patrol area sweep, no contacts on sonar, the watch team has verified safe conditions, and I have reviewed the surfacing checklist.”
Marquet said, “Very well.”
The officer carried out the surfacing with complete confidence and precision. He was not executing someone else’s decision. He was executing his own decision, which had been validated by his commanding officer. The difference in energy, engagement, and attention to detail was immediate and visible.
“When people own a decision, they own the outcome. When they are just following orders, they feel no investment in the result.” – L. David Marquet
Marquet did not expect every person to jump straight from “Tell me what to do” to “I intend to…” overnight. He recognized that there is a spectrum of proactive language, and he mapped it as a ladder that people could climb one rung at a time.
From least proactive to most proactive:
The goal is not to get everyone to Level 7 immediately. The goal is to move every person one rung up the ladder, and then another, gradually building their confidence and competence to operate at higher levels of initiative.
Introducing new language is easy. Making it stick is hard. Marquet used several reinforcing mechanisms to ensure the “I intend to…” practice became embedded in the culture rather than being a passing fad.
As the “I intend to” language spread through the Santa Fe, something remarkable happened. It did not just change how decisions were communicated. It changed how people thought. Officers and sailors began anticipating problems, preparing more thoroughly, and taking initiative without being asked.
Before “I intend to…”
After “I intend to…”
Start using the “I intend to…” framework in your own organization:
How much of your day is spent making decisions that someone closer to the work could make better? What if every person in your organization came to you not with problems but with intended solutions? How would that change the speed and quality of your organization’s output?