Managing Knowledge and Learning at Nasa and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Managing Knowledge and Learning at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Summary
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established by Congress on October 1, 1958, in order for the United States to keep up with the technological advancements achieved from former Soviet Union’s successful launch of the Sputnik (1957). The Apollo Era-Mission had risen from the support of John F. Kennedy’s goal, which was “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.” Prioritization at NASA evolved into the center’s motto of “Faster, Better, Cheaper” (FBC), which was mandated in the Goldin Era beginning in 1992. NASA shifted priorities from: 1) performance, 2) schedule and 3) cost to 1) increase mission performance, 2) cut cost and 3) work force reduction. However, this reform was not as successful as planned. From 1992 and 2000, six of 16 FBC missions failed. To address concern of the impact of failed missions and impending retirements of many of the most experienced NASA employees, Congress enforced that the agency search for the solution to Knowledge Management (KM) and promoting learning initiatives at NASA-JPL.
NASA’s KM tools were mainly IT systems of Internet-based databases and portals for ease of lessons. The NASA KM crisis was attributed to the organization’s inability to document experiences of failures and successes of missions or projects; ultimately incapable of capturing the “experiential knowledge” from expert engineers and scientists. In addition, this lack in KM was due to “privatizing knowledge” and promoting creativity, that stemmed from NASA’s culture where competition among centers for projects and funding was the norm. Several KM Initiatives were developed including project libraries for document and data management, developing standards, establishing databases to find experts, ask technical questions, and to capture history and legacy reviews.
1) What were the pros and cons of the “Faster, Better, Cheaper”
Summary
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established by Congress on October 1, 1958, in order for the United States to keep up with the technological advancements achieved from former Soviet Union’s successful launch of the Sputnik (1957). The Apollo Era-Mission had risen from the support of John F. Kennedy’s goal, which was “landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth.” Prioritization at NASA evolved into the center’s motto of “Faster, Better, Cheaper” (FBC), which was mandated in the Goldin Era beginning in 1992. NASA shifted priorities from: 1) performance, 2) schedule and 3) cost to 1) increase mission performance, 2) cut cost and 3) work force reduction. However, this reform was not as successful as planned. From 1992 and 2000, six of 16 FBC missions failed. To address concern of the impact of failed missions and impending retirements of many of the most experienced NASA employees, Congress enforced that the agency search for the solution to Knowledge Management (KM) and promoting learning initiatives at NASA-JPL.
NASA’s KM tools were mainly IT systems of Internet-based databases and portals for ease of lessons. The NASA KM crisis was attributed to the organization’s inability to document experiences of failures and successes of missions or projects; ultimately incapable of capturing the “experiential knowledge” from expert engineers and scientists. In addition, this lack in KM was due to “privatizing knowledge” and promoting creativity, that stemmed from NASA’s culture where competition among centers for projects and funding was the norm. Several KM Initiatives were developed including project libraries for document and data management, developing standards, establishing databases to find experts, ask technical questions, and to capture history and legacy reviews.
1) What were the pros and cons of the “Faster, Better, Cheaper”
References: 1. Anthony Spears: (1999). Mars Pathfinder’s lessons learned from the Mars Pathfinder Project Manager’s perspective and the future road. Acta Astronautica, 45, 235-241. 2. Pete Spotts: (2010). Obama NASA plan: Mars shot as next generation 's Apollo mission. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved April 15, 2010, from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0415/Obama-NASA-plan-Mars-shot-as-next-generation-s-Apollo-mission 3. Tariq Malik. (2010). NASA drops moon plan and refocuses vision. Retrieved February 1 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35182959/ns/technology_and_science-space/