A NASA Project Manager’s Lessons Learned - Part 1

 

Who is Jerry Madden?

During Jerry Madden's 37-year career at NASA, the federal agency launched its first satellite, achieved the first lunar landing, and deployed the Hubble telescope. It also innovated outside the edges, bringing satellite TV, air-cushioned sneakers, and solar panels to the masses. In other words, NASA was an idea factory running at full steam.

Madden, who retired in 1995 as associate director of flight projects at Goddard Space Flight Center, was critical to the operation. As one of NASA's premiere project managers, he saw to it that great ideas became tangible innovations; he coordinated the technology, teams, and bureaucracy needed to propel science forward.

Along the way, Madden also curated and penned a now-infamous list of 128 lessons for project managers, which still circulates through NASA today.

Source of this document

You can download the original (free) at http://go.nasa.gov/2fBULlK  But some of it is NASA-specific or at least Aerospace-specific.   I’ve modified these slightly to make them less “application specific” and more in-tune with current Project Management theory.  I’m taking them 25 at a time and below are the first (edited) 25

From the original document: “None of these are original--It's just that we don't know where they were stolen from!”

The same goes for me!

Discussions:

I think the community here can add / subtract and modified from these.  Please feel free to post corrections, insults, additions, or general impressions.  Maybe even pick out your favorites. 

The Project Manager

1. There are no such thing as previously-fielded systems. The people who build the next unit probably never saw the previous unit; there are probably minor changes; the operational environment has probably changed; and the people who check the unit out will in most cases not understand the unit or the tests.


2. Most equipment works "as built," –  not as the designer planned. This is due to layout of the design, poor understanding on the designer's part, or poor understanding of component specifications.


3. The source of most problems is people but damned if they will admit it.  Know the people working on your project, so you know what the real weak spots are.


4. Most Project Managers succeed on the strength and skill of the project team


5. A manager who is his own systems engineer or financial manager is one who will probably try to do open heart surgery on themselves.


6. One must pay attention to workaholics – if they get going in the wrong direction, they can do a lot of damage in a short time – it is possible to overload them, causing premature burnout, but hard to determine if the load is too much, since much of it is self-generated.  It is important to make sure such people take enough time off and that the workload does not exceed 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 times what is normal.


7. NASA projects compete for budget funds--they do not compete with each other. So, never attack any other project with the idea you should get their funding. Sell what you have on its own merit.

8. Suppliers respond well to the customer who pays attention to what they are doing, but not too well to the customer that continually second-guesses their activity. The basic rule is: a customer is always right, but the cost will escalate if a customer always has things done his way, instead of the way the supplier had planned. The ground rule is never change a supplier's plans unless they are flawed or too costly.  Remember the old saying, "better is the enemy of good."


9. Never undercut the project team in public.  Don't make decisions on work that you have given them to do in public meetings. Even if you direct a change, never take the responsibility for implementing away from the project team


10. The project has many resources. This is a powerful resource that can be used to attack problems.


11. Know who the decision makers on the project are. It may be someone outside of the project team who has the ear of executive management or someone in the chain of command. Whoever they are, try to get a line of communication to them on a formal or informal basis.


12. The program and project manager should work as a team. The program manager is your advocate at HQ and must be tied in to the decision making and should aid your efforts to be tied in too.


13. A project manager should visit everyone who is building anything for their project. People like to know that the project manager is interested in their work, and the best proof is for the manager to visit them and see first-hand what they are doing.


14. Never ask your management to make a decision that you can make. Assume you have the authority to make decisions unless you know there is a document that states unequivocally that you cannot.

15. Wrong decisions made early can be salvaged, but "right" decisions made late cannot.


16. Never make excuses; instead, present plans of actions to be taken.


17. Never try to get even for some slight by another project. It is not good form--it puts you on the same level as the other person--and often ends up hindering the project getting done.


18. If you cultivate too much egotism, you may find it difficult to change your position- -especially if the project team tells you that you are wrong. You should instill an attitude on the project whereby the team know they can tell you of wrong decisions.


19. One of the advantages of NASA in the early days was the fact that everyone knew that the facts we were absolutely sure of –  could be wrong.


20. Project Managers who rely on the paperwork to do the reporting of activities are known failures.


21. Not all successful Project Managers are competent and not all failed Project Managers are incompetent. Luck still plays a part in success or failure, but luck favors the competent, hard-working Project manager.


22. If you have a problem that requires the addition of people to solve, you should approach recruiting people like a cook who has under-salted, i.e., a little at a time.


23. A project manager must know what motivates the project suppliers, i.e., their award system, their fiscal system, their policies, and their company culture.


24. If there isn’t secret information on the project--so don't treat anything like it is secret. Everyone does better if they can see the whole picture, so don't hide any of it from anyone.


25. Know the resources at your location and if possible other locations. Other locations, if they have the resources, are normally happy to help. It is always surprising how much good help one can get by just asking.