The other morning, I had one of those conversations with a close friend that left me buzzing with energy. It wasn’t just the productivity or the clarity gained, but something deeper – an epiphany.

This summer, amidst the whirlwind of travel, I found time to revisit a topic close to my heart: the challenge of getting people to adopt and utilize analytical models. Dr. Wilson Price and I co-authored a chapter on this very subject in the first edition of a book, and I recently updated it for the second edition.

During my many travels this summer I have been watching Starz’s “Black Sails”. In keeping with my Age of Sail theme after visiting both the USS Constitution in Boston in April and then the HMS Victory in Portsmouth, UK in July, it seem appropriate to watch a show about sailing ships.

What happens when you combine an American, a very English environment, a military analytics conference, and a healthy dose of pub exploration? Well, it’s not quite an episode of “Ted Lasso,” but it might be the closest I’ll ever get.

The 92nd Military Operations Research Society (MORS) Symposium held in Monterey was an experience that far exceeded my expectations. As someone who spent their last Navy tour at the Naval Postgraduate School, returning to the stunning scenery of Monterey was a treat in itself.