Introduction
This week’s reflective blog
centers on the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and NASA’s reactive response. The
following topics are discussed: 1. Why did NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe
address NASA employees to describe the plan to bring about proposed changes to
NASA's culture? 2. Was he believable? Is it important whether he appeared to be
believable? 3. Why did he talk about NASA values? 4. What can you take away
from this exercise to immediately use in your career?
Why NASA
Administrator Mr. O’Keefe Addressed NASA Employees
Mr. O’Keefe purpose for addressing
his organization (NASA) in a speech given publicly on C-SPAN,
is to unveil a plan for change. This plan for change was a change in the
culture at NASA. Why the focus on culture you ask? Because the CAIB (Columbia Accident Investigation
Board) found “history and culture contributed as much to the Columbia accident
as any technical failure.” This is debatable, but we will get to that critical
point in a moment.
Once the CAIB
found that culture was just as culpable as any “technical failure” the focus
was on how to change that culture. Mr. O’Keefe’s tone and pace was unremarkable
and one that does not build enthusiasm for change. Don’t get me wrong, the presentation
was very professional and logically arranged. But so are funerals. Someone who
leads change of this magnitude really should speak with conviction and passion
when leading change of this magnitude. “A leader who is very positive and
enthusiastic can influence the mood of the followers to be more positive, which
is likely to increase their enthusiasm for work and their perception they can
accomplish difficult objectives.” (Yukl, 2013, p. 314).
Was Mr. O’Keefe
Believable?
On the surface yes. Not
remarkably so, but believable. After doing a little investigation however, the credibility factor begins to go down. The fact that the CAIB was
essentially an in-house organization that pointed a finger of culpability at
the culture of NASA, failed to examine the problem of the culture from a ‘zoomed’
out perspective. In the leadership discipline this ‘in-house organization’ is referred
to as an internal practitioner of Organizational Development (OD).
Having all but one of
the CAIB members affiliated with the government (NASA facts, 2003) led me to
the possibility that perhaps the CAIB did not have a good perspective of the
problem. Brown (2011) lists one of the disadvantages of an internal
practitioner as "... lack of objectivity." (p. 89). Now I’m thinking
that Mr. O’Keefe’s message lacks conviction because he doesn’t believe it
himself. Is this important? Absolutely! I’ve watched the video several times
and when the camera pans around to the audience what is communicated to you? My
intuition tells me they feel as though they are being force fed what the CAIB
believes to be the major contributors to the shuttle disaster.
Why Does Mr. O’Keefe
Talk About Values?
Values are to culture as
toys are to a toy box. Show me your toy box and I can tell you what you like to
play and probably make a good guess at how you like to play. More specifically
Mr. O’Keefe points out that NASAs’ protected values (protected values are ones
that are non-negotiable) are not as strong as they should be (NASA, 2004). So
in essence he is zooming in on culture into the protected values he feels are
being threatened.
Summary
I’m not currently in a
position in my career to recommend or influence an investigation into our
organizations culture, but the story of the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster has
inspired me to take action today. Watching the video and doing some research on
my own has really made a lasting impression on me that will stay with me the
rest of my life. When a tragedy the magnitude of the Columbia Space Shuttle
disaster occurs, an internal and an external practitioner is absolutely needed
to arrive at an unbiased conclusion, with the external practitioner in the lead
role. This needs to be made a national policy when such tragedies involve
tax-payer resources and should not be debatable and we need to hold our elected
representatives accountable for any deviation. Decide for yourself by doing
your own research. I’m confident most of you will reach similar conclusions. If
you do, join me in fighting for change in how we investigate tragedies when
resources we paid for are involved. Contact your local representative for
change in how we do these types of investigations. Find Your Representative Now!
References:
Brown,
R. D, (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th
edition.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
C-Span
(2004). NASA cultural change: [Video
file]. Retrieved from
http://www.c-span.org/video/?181348-1/nasa-cultural-changes%20.
NASA
Facts. (2003, March). Columbia accident investigation board member biographies.
Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/2196main_COL_caib_bios.pdf.
Yukl,
G. (2013). Leadership in organizations.
Boston MA: Pearson.
