WASHINGTON — “Space, the final frontier,” William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk said in the introduction to the original “Star Trek” TV series, which hit homes across the nation in September 1966. The crew of the USS Enterprise had a mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and civilizations, and boldly go where no one has gone before.
The 13th movie in the TV and movie franchise, “Star Trek Beyond,” just came out this past weekend. This time around, Chris Pine sits in the captain’s chair, playing a young James Kirk battling some personal demons.
But almost every single leader in the “Star Trek” universe — from Captain Kathryn Janeway of “Voyager” to Commander Benjamin Sisko of “Deep Space Nine” — has had something to say that can teach us a few life lessons.
“‘Star Trek’ brings vision and imagination,” said Dave Marinaccio, author of “All I Really Need To Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek.” He added, “You don’t have to settle for what’s going on — there’s a frontier out there.”
As Captain Kirk once noted in the episode “Whom Gods Destroy” : “There was a time when war was necessary … but my first visit to Axanar was as a new fledged cadet on a peace mission. They were humanitarians and statesmen, and they had a dream — a dream that became a reality and spread throughout the stars.”
Captain Jean-Luc Picard of “The Next Generation,” snapped at Starfleet Cadet Wesley Crusher in the episode “The First Duty” : “A lie of omission is still a lie!”
Marinaccio said both men are great captains and managers because they are true to their own personal style: Kirk has an “instinctual, from-the-gut” kind of style, and Picard, said the author, is “this laid back, more cerebral kind of guy.”
“There’s a lesson in that for every kind of work — or any kind of management position,” Marinaccio said. “The best management style for you is a management style that’s true to yourself and your personality, and not trying to be somebody you’re not.”
Other lessons from “Star Trek” might seem obvious, but they are worth giving some thought. Marinaccio said the franchise teaches you that as long as they aren’t trying to hurt others, each person — or species, no matter how alien — has the right to live his life as he wishes. He said “Star Trek” was one of the first places the American public saw Asian-Americans, African-Americans, white Americans, Vulcans and Klingons working and living together.
“The bridge of the Enterprise is a universal brotherhood,” Marinaccio said. “This is a reflection of the diverse society we live in.”
He adds that the series teaches viewers that if you mess something up, it’s your responsibility to make things right again. Case in point: Shatner’s favorite episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever,” in which Dr. McCoy goes back into earth’s past and changes history, allowing Hitler’s Germany to develop the atomic bomb and conquer the planet. Kirk and Spock have to go back in time to fix it, killing the woman Kirk loves in the process.
Also, the author adds, one should always answer a distress signal.
“The best time to help somebody is when they need help,” Marinaccio said. “The idea is it doesn’t matter what the Enterprise is doing: Drop what you’re doing — and go help!”
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Marinaccio notes that “Star Trek” teaches that the unknown is not to be feared; it is to be examined, understood and accepted.
