Is Culture Really to Blame for the Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster?

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.