ASK the Academy Volume 3 Anthology
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ASK THE ACADEMY VOLUME 3 ANTHOLOGY TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT ASK THE ACADEMY ..................................................................................................... 5 MESSAGES FROM THE ACADEMY DIRECTOR .......................................................................... 7 THE POWER OF A VISION .................................................................................................. 7 T RENDS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT ................................................................................. 7 KNOWLEDGE EXPLOSION ................................................................................................... 8 LESSONS FROM TORINO .................................................................................................... 9 C HANGE MANAGEMENT AND ADAPTIVE CHALLENGES .................................................... 9 V IRTUAL PROJECT TEAMS AND LEARNING ..................................................................... 10 THE GOOD IDEA PARADOX .............................................................................................. 11 ACADEMY BRIEFS .................................................................................................................... 13 PM CHALLENGE LEADERSHIP ROUNDUP ....................................................................... 13 PM CHALLENGE INTERNATIONAL FORUM ROUNDUP .................................................... 14 J EAN-JACQUES DORDAIN ON GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES ................ 15 M ASTERS WITH MASTERS EVENT HIGHLIGHTS INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION ..... 17 M ASTERS WITH MASTERS FEATURES BOLDEN AND DORDAIN ..................................... 18 M ASTERS WITH MASTERS 4 FEATURES BOBBY BRAUN AND STEVE ALTEMUS .......... 18 A CADEMY HOSTS SECOND PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR FORUM .................................... 19 MASTERS FORUM 19 ROUNDUP ..................................................................................... 21 CONGRESSIONAL OPERATIONS SEMINAR ...................................................................... 22 N EW ORBITAL DEBRIS MITIGATION COURSE ................................................................. 24 ACADEMY INTERVIEWS ........................................................................................................... 27 FIVE QUESTIONS FOR DR. SCOTT PAGE ....................................................................... 27 F IVE QUESTIONS FOR WAYNE HALE .............................................................................. 28 J IM CROCKER ON SYSTEMS ENGINEERING .................................................................... 30 A c a d e m y o f P r o g r a m / P r o j e c t & E n g i n e e r i n g L e a d e r s h i p 1 ASK THE ACADEMY VOLUME 3 ANTHOLOGY KNOWLEDGE BRIEFS............................................................................................................... 35 FROM THE X-15 TO THE SHUTTLE .................................................................................. 35 OCO-2 GETS UNDERWAY ............................................................................................... 36 G ODDARD HOSTS “ALL THINGS KM” FORUM ................................................................ 38 K NOWLEDGE FORUM FOCUSES ON PROJECT EFFECTIVENESS ................................... 39 NASA CO-HOSTS THIRD KNOWLEDGE FORUM WITH ETS .......................................... 40 J AY PITTMAN ON THE “ANATOMY OF A DRAGON” ......................................................... 41 YOUNG PROFESSIONAL BRIEFS ............................................................................................. 45 KAT CODERRE .................................................................................................................. 45 NETWORKING FORUM AT IAC ......................................................................................... 47 2010 YOUNG PROFESSIONALS STUDY RELEASED ........................................................ 47 SPACEUP DC — AN UNCONFERENCE ........................................................................... 48 RESEARCH BRIEFS ................................................................................................................. 51 S TUDENTS VIEW AEROSPACE AS EXCITING, INNOVATIVE, AND CHALLENGING .......... 51 S TUDY EXAMINES EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP AT NASA ................................................. 52 ACADEMY BOOKSHELF ........................................................................................................... 53 W ILLIAM LANGEWIESCHE’S FLY BY WIRE ...................................................................... 53 B EING WRONG: ADVENTURES IN THE MARGIN OF ERROR ........................................... 53 THIS MONTH IN NASA HISTORY ........................................................................................... 55 20 TH ANNIVERSARY OF HUBBLE LAUNCH ...................................................................... 55 T HE LUNAR-ORBIT RENDEZVOUS DECISION .................................................................. 57 RESOURCES ............................................................................................................................ 59 INDEX ....................................................................................................................................... 61 2 A c a d e m y o f P r o g r a m / P r o j e c t & E n g i n e e r i n g L e a d e r s h i p ASK THE ACADEMY VOLUME 3 ANTHOLOGY A c a d e m y o f P r o g r a m / P r o j e c t & E n g i n e e r i n g L e a d e r s h i p 3 4 A c a d e m y o f P r o g r a m / P r o j e c t & E n g i n e e r i n g L e a d e r s h i p ASK THE ACADEMY VOLUME 3 ANTHOLOGY ABOUT ASK THE ACADEMY The challenges that NASA projects tackle are novel in With its field centers across the country, NASA is a nature—they are often “firsts” or “onlies” that demand decentralized organization in which experts have few innovation, knowledge, and learning. Mission success opportunities to learn about each other’s work. ASK depends on the free flow of ideas across the agency as well the Academy, a monthly e-newsletter, serves as a means as with partners in industry, academia, other government of regular communication with the agency’s technical agencies, research and professional organizations, and workforce about best practices, lessons learned, and new international space agencies. To address this, the Academy developments at NASA and throughout the world. It is of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership has intended to serve as a way to build connections and share invested in knowledge sharing strategies that emphasize knowledge across the agency. the power of telling stories in order to help create a community of practitioners who are reflective and geared ASK the Academy began in December 2005 as ASK OCE, a toward sharing. biweekly publication of the NASA Office of the Chief Engineer. In January 2008, it became the monthly ASK the Academy. A c a d e m y o f P r o g r a m / P r o j e c t & E n g i n e e r i n g L e a d e r s h i p 5 ASK THE ACADEMY VOLUME 3 ANTHOLOGY 6 A c a d e m y o f P r o g r a m / P r o j e c t & E n g i n e e r i n g L e a d e r s h i p ASK THE ACADEMY VOLUME 3 ANTHOLOGY Messages from the Academy Director THE POWER OF A VISION NASA is virtually unique among government organizations in its focus on exploration, which is an intrinsically visionary January 29, 2010 — Vol. 3, Issue 1 pursuit. The earliest space visionaries were storytellers, not scientists or engineers. The very idea of space exploration When you close your eyes and think of NASA, what comes was outside the realm of the possible until the dawn of to mind? Your answer, whatever it is, says a lot about the flight in the early twentieth century. In 1930, three science strength of NASA’s vision. fiction writers founded the American Rocket Society, a predecessor of today’s American Institute of Aeronautics Many people think that an organization’s statement of its and Astronautics (AIAA). It’s hard to think of another vision is simply words on a page. That couldn’t be further technical profession where one generation’s fantastic story from the truth. The exercise of closing your eyes leads you becomes the next generation’s reality. Stories are powerful to conjure up images. If an organization has articulated a tools for sharing a vision with others. powerful vision that is consistent with its actions, chances are that the images you’ll see will reflect the vision in some way. As Dr. King’s example reminds us, a vision is a dream of a better future. Nothing could be more important. An organization’s vision is its fuel for action. It excites people and lets them know where they’re going. Studies have shown that the greatest organizational motivator for TRENDS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT employees is challenging and meaningful work. There’s a well-known parable in business circles that illustrates this. February 26, 2010 — Vol. 3, Issue 2 Long ago in medieval Europe, three men were breaking up a massive pile of rocks with sledgehammers. A passerby Five trends are reshaping the practice of project management. stopped and asked each man what he was doing. The first man replied, “Breaking rocks.” The second man said, Over the past year, as I met with colleagues at NASA and “Working so I can feed my family.” The third man said, around the world and reviewed current research about “Building a cathedral.” It’s clear from their responses which project management, five key themes kept surfacing: team man connected his work to