Gorshkov's maxim that better could be the enemy of good reflected wartime lessons about logistics, presence, and the need for hull numbers. He preferred enough vessels delivering roughly an eighty-percent solution to a much smaller force delayed in pursuit of perfection. That choice supported worldwide presence and conflict management as well as wartime mass. A deliberately adequate design is different from work that merely functions at the bare minimum. Safety failures in the nuclear submarine program show the danger when subordinates use the maxim to excuse below-average workmanship instead of delivering the capable, numerous fleet Gorshkov intended.
Notable Point · 30:42-32:37
Good enough, fleet numbers, and readiness
Gorshkov preferred numerous workable ships to too few perfected ones, but the distinction between adequate and merely unsafe remained crucial.