Trekking Through Compliance

In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider The Man Trap, which aired on September 8, 1966, Star Date 1515.1.

In this episode, a landing party from the Enterprise beams down to perform an annual checkup of scientist Bob Crater and his wife Nancy, who have lived on the planet M113 for 5 years. Dr. Crater and Nancy appear to be in good health, but Dr. Crater goes out of his way to request an additional salt supply from the Enterprise's stores. A crewman wanders off and dies under mysterious circumstances. Further tests show that his body is completely devoid of salt.

Scanning the planet's surface reveals only a single life form, so Spock and Kirk realize that Nancy must have beamed aboard the Enterprise and started searching for her. They question Dr. Crater and learn that Nancy is dead and that her form has been taken over by the planet's last remaining indigenous creature, which can assume any form and requires salt to live.

Kirk and Spock then beam Dr. Crater aboard the Enterprise, which prevents Kirk from killing the creature (which he still sees as Nancy Crater), and then stands idly by as she begins to drain the salt from Kirk's body. At this juncture, Spock rushes in and demonstrates to McCoy that the woman attacking Kirk could not be Nancy by striking her repeatedly and forcefully. Nancy does not flinch, sending Spock flying across the room with a single counterblow. When the creature attacks Kirk again, its true alien form is revealed, and Bones kills it with a phaser, even after it reverts to Nancy's form.

Key Highlights:

1. Compliance and Leadership lessons.

2. Character dynamics.

3. Insights into ethical decision-making, vigilance, and communication in compliance programs.

4. The relevance of storytelling and visual branding in compliance training.

5. Lessons on balancing security and compassion in compliance efforts.

Resources

Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein for The Man Trap

MissionLogPodcast.com-The Man Trap

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In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode The Conscience of the King, which aired on December 8, 1966, Star Date 2817.6.

The Enterprise is called Planet Q by Dr. Thomas Leighton. Leighton suspects Anton Karidian, the leader of a Shakespearean acting troupe currently on the planet, is Kodos the Executioner, former governor of the Earth colony of Tarsus IV. Kodos had ordered that half the population of 8000 be put to death during a food shortage. Both Leighton and Kirk were eyewitnesses.

Kirk arranges to ferry the acting troupe to its next destination. Spock learns the history of the massacre, Kirk's connection to it, and that seven of the nine witnesses had died, in each case when Karidian's troupe was nearby. Kirk confronts Karidian with his suspicions. Karidian does not admit to being Kodos.

Karidian, overhearing, is disturbed, and Lenore tries to reassure him by revealing that she has been killing the witnesses to his crimes. Kirk moves to arrest them both. Lenore snatches a phaser and accidentally kills Karidian.

Compliance Takeaways:

1.     When does a leader step from business to personal?

2.     Can you ever be sure in an investigation absent a confession?

3.     What is the difference between an investigation and a root cause analysis?

 Resources:

Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein for The Conscience of the King

MissionLogPodcast.com-The The Conscience of the King

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In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode Turnabout Intruder, which aired on June 3, 1969, Star Date 5298.5.

After receiving a distress call from a science party on Camus II exploring the ruins of a dead civilization, the Enterprise rushes to assistance. All party members appear dead except the leader Dr. Janice Lester and the medical officer Dr. Arthur Coleman. According to Dr. Coleman, Lester is suffering from some unknown sort of radiation poisoning.

However, when the rest of the Enterprise landing party goes to aid a dying science party member and leaving Kirk and Lester alone, she activates an alien device she has discovered and exchanges bodies with Kirk. Lester is driven by jealousy and a persecution complex and complains to Kirk about the agony of being a woman. Lester-as-Kirk orders everyone to be beamed about and takes over the role of Kirk.

Lester-as-Kirk removes Bones as a chief medical officer and installs Dr. Coleman, a former starship doctor who has been found incompetent by the Starfleet Surgeon General, in his place. Dr. Coleman attempts to prevent Kirk (in Dr. Lester’s body) from interacting with the crew by sedating her, but she escapes to sickbay to talk to Bones and Spock. However, Lester-as-Kirk is also waiting for a physical examination ordered by McCoy. He proceeds to knock Kirk-as-Lester out and orders her to be put in isolation and incommunicado.

Spock suspects something amiss and goes to speak to (the real) Kirk in solitary confinement. At Kirk’s request, Spock does a Vulcan mind probe and discovers the truth. Spock tries to escape with the real Kirk but is stopped by Lester-as-Kirk and security guards. This leads to a court-martial trial for Spock. Spock puts Kirk (in Lester’s body) on the stand and testifies that Kirk’s mind is in her body.

In the meantime, Sulu and Chekov refuse to obey Lester-as-Kirk’s orders, and Kirk and Lester experience a temporary reversion of minds. In fact, to prevent a reversion, Coleman informs Lester-as-Kirk that Lester must be killed. However, Coleman is too late to carry out the task, and Kirk’s and Lester’s minds revert to their appropriate bodies.

Compliance Takeaways:

Resources

Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein

MissionLogPodcast.com

Memory Alpha

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In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode All Our Yesterdays which aired on March 14, 1969, Star Date 5943.7

On a mission to evacuate the population of the lone planet Sarpedon before its sun explodes, Spock, Kirk and McCoy beam down to investigate why sensors indicate no humanoid life remaining on the planet. They discover a "library" staffed by Mr. Atoz ("A to Z") who tells them to hurry up and pick a destination, and that he himself plans to join his wife and family when the nova comes. 

Kirk and then Spock and McCoy are sent to different places in the past. However they are all able to return to the library as Mr. Atoz puts in a disk and rushes to join his family before it is too late. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy return to the Enterprise, which warps out of orbit just as the star novas.

Compliance Takeaways:

1.     What is targeted training?

2.     What is effective training?

3.     What is your training governance protocol?

Resources

Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein

MissionLogPodcast.com

Memory Alpha

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 In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode The Savage Curtain which aired on March 7, 1969, Star Date 5906.4.

While scanning planet Excalbia, Spock detects strange readings which seem to indicate the presence of carbon cycle life forms. The subsequent appearance of Abraham Lincoln on the viewing screen and his transportation to the Enterprise demonstrate that whatever intelligence resides on the planet has the ability to read minds and manipulate matter. Shortly before beaming Lincoln aboard, Spock reports that sensors showing an object resembling living rock with claws at the same position.

On board, Lincoln appears to be human with knowledge of technology from the mid 1800’s but is strangely also aware of the Vulcan philosophy. When Kirk accepts Lincoln's invitation for Spock and him to beam down to a patch of Earth-type environment on the planet, they encounter Surak, the father of Vulcan civilization. A piece of rock suddenly becomes animated and informs them that the inhabitants of the planet are conducting an experiment to discover which of the opposing human philosophies is stronger: good or evil. To carry out their experiment, the rock creatures pit Lincoln, Surak, Kirk, and Spock against Genghis Khan, Colonel Green, Zora and Kahless the Klingon in a battle to the death.

Green appears to parlay with Surak but sends his associates to sneak up on him. They then attempt to trick Kirk's party into rescuing him when he (apparently) screams out in pain. Lincoln attempts to sneak into Green's camp, but this action had been expected. As he discovers that Surak is already dead, Lincoln is speared from behind. Col. Green's party then attacks Spock and Kirk. Spock kills Col. Green and the others are forced to flee. The rock creatures discover that evil is defeated when directly confronted by good, and Spock, Kirk, and the Enterprise are released.

Compliance Takeaways:

Resources

Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein

MissionLogPodcast.com

Memory Alpha

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In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode The Cloud Miners, which aired on February 28, 1969, and occurred on Star Date 5818.4

When a botanical plague threatens to destroy all vegetation on the planet Merak II, the Enterprise visits Ardana, the only known source of the xenite mineral needed to halt the plague. Despite High Advisor Plasus's request that they beam to the cloud city Stratos, Kirk and Spock beam directly down to the xenite mine entrance, where they are lassooed by the xenite miners.

Kirk and Spock are entertained as guests on Stratos until the xenite can be found. Plasus' daughter Droxine is fascinated with Spock, but the city servant and secret Trogglyte leader Vanna has an interest of a different kind for Kirk: she attempts to take him hostage at mining-implement-point. And his forceful protests prompt Plasus to order their immediate departure from the city.

Back aboard the Enterprise, Kirk learns from McCoy that unprocessed xenite emits an odorless, invisible gas that temporarily diminishes mental ability and heightens emotions. Spock then realizes that the leaders of the disrupters have all been isolated from xenite emissions by their service aboard Stratos. Kirk proposes that the Trogglytes be supplied with xenite masks.

Once the effect of the gas has worn off, Kirk agrees to provide Vanna with masks and help the Trogglytes obtain equality in exchange for the xenite, despite the protests of Plasus. Kirk and Plasus drop charges against each other, and Kirk and Spock return to the Enterprise with xenite in hand.

Compliance Takeaways:

1.     What is institutional justice?

2.     What is institutional fairness?

3.     How do you know your discipline is consistent?

Resources

Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein

MissionLogPodcast.com

Memory Alpha

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In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode The Way To Eden, which aired on February 21, 1969, and occurred on Star Date 5832.3

In its tribute to the Summer of Love and the hippie generation, a group of alternative lifestylers come aboard the Enterprise and bring their message of love and simplicity to the crew of the Enterprise. They manage to shanghai the crew into taking them to the mythical planet of Eden, which it turns out exists. Once there, however, they find the food is poisonous, and the ground is laced with acid.

Compliance Takeaways:

1.     What does your ELT do to support compliance?

2.     How do you utilize your ELT in your compliance program?

3.     Do you get the resources you need in budget and headcount from your ELT?

Resources

Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein

MissionLogPodcast.com

Memory Alpha

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In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode Requiem for Methuselah, which aired on February 14, 1969, and occurred on Star Date 5843.7.

The Enterprise lands on a planet which has an immortal who is trying to build the perfect AI companion. He has gone through several models of her. Kirk brings her to the verge of humanity but choosing between Kirk and her creator is too much, and she dies trying to make the final decision.

Compliance Takeaways:

1.     Sometimes, a CCO must take a stand and speak the truth to power.

2.     Why is it important to bring investment into your decision-making?

3.     Practice, practice, and more practice. Yet even with practice, things can go awry.

Resources

Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein

MissionLogPodcast.com

Memory Alpha

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In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode The Lights of Zetar, which aired on January 31, 1969, and occurred on Star Date 5725.3.

On its way to the Memory Alpha planetoid, the storehouse of all Federation's cultural history and scientific knowledge, sensors detect a strange storm. The storm travels at a speed of Warp 2.6, indicating that it cannot be a natural phenomenon. The storm heads right for the Enterprise, penetrating the shield and attacking different brain centers of different crew members. Lt. Mira Romaine, aboard to oversee transmission of data newly gathered by the Enterprise to Memory Alpha, seems the hardest hit.

The storm then heads for shieldless Memory Alpha, killing all those aboard and burning out the central memory core. Mira beamed and warned everyone to return to the Enterprise because the storm was returning. Scans from the Enterprise confirm this, and the landing party returns to the ship.

To rid Mira of the alien influence before the aliens attack again, Kirk rushes her to a gravity/pressure chamber. The aliens attack too soon, however, and Mira becomes completely possessed. Speaking through Mira, the aliens identify themselves as the last survivors of the planet Zetar. They have had to discard their bodies and have been searching for a millennium for one such as Mira's in which they can live out their lives. Before Mira's consciousness can be completely subjugated, Scotty puts her in the pressure chamber. Here, the aliens are killed, and Mira is freed.

Compliance Takeaways:

1.     What is your internal reporting mechanism?

2.     Have you trained your middle managers in how to receive reports?

3.     What is your triage protocol?

Resources

Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein

MissionLogPodcast.com

Memory Alpha

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In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode That Which Survives, which aired on January 24, 1969, and occurred on Star Date Unknown.

McCoy, Sulu, Kirk, and senior geologist D'Amato beam down to investigate a strange planet the size of the Moon but with the mass of the Earth. The planet has no magnetic field but a well-developed atmosphere and plant life---despite the fact that the planet appears to be only 1000 years old. As the landing party is beaming down, a strange woman appears, says, "wait, you must not go," and kills the transporter operator.

Meanwhile, aboard the Enterprise, Engineer grade 4 John B. Watkins is killed by the woman when he checks the bypass circuit, but not before he warns Scott that a strange woman is aboard. On the Enterprise, the woman rigs the engines to explode by fusing the emergency bypass circuit on the matter/antimatter integrator. The Enterprise begins accelerating out of control, and Spock estimates that the Enterprise will explode in 14.87 minutes, with no way to stop it. Scotty saves the Enterprise from exploding by reversing polarity on the magnetic probe and returning the magnetic flow to normal.

Spock rescues the landing party at this juncture when he beams down and destroys the computer which was projecting the image of the woman Losira. When a recorded tape is automatically played, they find out that the planet they are on is a space outpost built by the Calandans, who were all killed by a disease they created while building the planet. The outpost was left on automatic, with the computer attempting to fend off all explorers but the expected Calandan ship. As Kirk prepares to return to the Enterprise, he comments in response to a statement by Spock that beauty such as Losira's is transitory, that "beauty survives."

Compliance Takeaways:

1.     What is your risk tolerance?

2.     How do you manage sales risk?

3.     How does your Board look at risk?

Resources

Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein

MissionLogPodcast.com

Memory Alpha

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