Speeding Tickets Are Better Than Parking Tickets: Leading with Mission Command in Industrial Operations

by Nutt

Overview

In an era of unprecedented demand and urgent national security stakes, America's industrial and shipbuilding sectors are at a tipping point. Workforce shortages and resulting stresses are driving up turnover by 20-30% in many shipyards-straining operations. Meanwhile, bipartisan legislation, executive orders, and federal programs are rapidly mobilizing to rebuild the maritime industrial base-but without realigned leadership and empowerment strategies, these efforts will fall short.
Speeding Tickets Are Better Than Parking Tickets offers a bold leadership paradigm centered on Mission Command-a military doctrine that empowers every level of the workforce to act decisively, responsibly, and with initiative. Inspired by both enduring defense principles and cutting-edge best practices, this book shows leaders how to transform urgent policy and rhetorical momentum into sustained workplace transformation.
Drawing from:
Field-proven frameworks and real-world case studies in shipyards and factories,
Lessons from high-impact programs like the Navy's Maritime Industrial Base and Talent Pipeline Initiatives and
The latest thinking on retention, training, and industrial modernization

This book shows you how to:
Delegate outcomes-not tasks-so frontline supervisors own their mission.
Build fast-decision cultures where speed, not perfection, drives progress.
Establish training systems that teach judgement, not repetition.
Replace layers of bureaucracy with clarity, autonomy, and real-time feedback.
Retain skilled workers by giving them purpose, trust and advancement, not just pay.
Perfect for leaders grappling with skilled labor churn, ambitious industrial growth, or national-level defense mandates, this is your playbook for building resilient, empowered teams that win.
Why this book matters now:
Our national shipbuilding workforce has dwindled from over 1 million to under 150,000-and projections show it must double to meet demand.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798319636140
Publisher:	Barnes & Noble Press
Publication date:	07/20/2025
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	4.00(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Rick Nutt – Executive Bio
Rick Nutt is a transformative executive with over 20 years of experience leading large-scale operations, driving organizational turnarounds, and delivering high-performance results in the shipbuilding, manufacturing, and defense sectors. As the current Chief of Shipyard Operations for one of the top U.S. Department of Defense shipyards, Rick oversees multi-billion-dollar programs and a workforce of over 3,000 personnel, leading with precision, grit, and strategic clarity.

Rick's leadership journey has spanned critical domains—ranging from ERP transformation and Lean Six Sigma deployment to labor negotiation, earned value management, and continuous improvement. His ability to blend hands-on operational oversight with high-level business architecture has helped him solve deeply rooted industrial challenges, boosting productivity, reducing risk, and increasing profitability.

Now, as Founder of Management Services Group, Rick brings this elite experience to a growing portfolio of 10 industrial innovation ventures. From IoT asset tracking and fractional executive services to blue-collar training platforms and turnaround task forces, his mission is clear: To restore American industrial leadership through technology, discipline, and skilled trades resurgence.

Rick holds certifications in Maintenance Reliability, Project Management, Risk Management, and Lean/Six Sigma. He is a recognized builder of high-performing teams, a systems thinker, and an operator’s operator—capable of bridging the boardroom and the shop floor.