Fifty-one years ago (January 27, 1967), Apollo 1 burned on the pad and killed three astronauts: Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.
NASA - as they do - convened an accident investigation board to see what went wrong and how it could be fixed. Before that board finished, a mere four days after the accident, Flight Director Gene Kranz assembled his flight team and made a brief speech. That speech is perhaps one of the finest examples of leadership I have ever read:
Spaceflight will never tolerate carelessness, incapacity, and neglect. Somewhere, somehow, we screwed up. It could have been in design, build, or test. Whatever it was, we should have caught it. We were too gung ho about the schedule and we locked out all of the problems we saw each day in our work.
Every element of the program was in trouble and so were we. The simulators were not working, Mission Control was behind in virtually every area, and the flight and test procedures changed daily. Nothing we did had any shelf life. Not one of us stood up and said, "Dammit, stop!" I don't know what Thompson's committee will find as the cause, but I know what I find. We are the cause! We were not ready! We did not do our job. We were rolling the dice, hoping that things would come together by launch day, when in our hearts we knew it would take a miracle. We were pushing the schedule and betting that the Cape would slip before we did.
From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: "Tough" and "Competent". Tough means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. Competent means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect.
When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write "Tough and Competent" on your blackboards. It will never be erased. Each day when you enter the room these words will remind you of the price paid by Grissom, White, and Chaffee. These words are the price of admission to the ranks of Mission Control.Hell of a mission statement, isn't it? Nevermind the mission statement ... hell of a leadership statement. Gene Kranz recognized the power of a team. "We" pervades that speech - as well it should. Not until he's issuing marching orders does he say "you"; everything prior to that is joint ownership of the mistakes that occurred. No fingerpointing. No blame game. We screwed up. That, ladies and gents, is the mark of a leader, not a manager.
Strike "Mission Control" and sub in "dispatch" and consider it. We are, indeed, expected to perform with perfection. We should, indeed, strive to attain it. We shouldn't be found short in our knowledge or skills. Nevermind the one in the white shirt on the pedestal in the corner - we should take enough pride in our own job and have enough respect for our customers and ourselves to want to excel at all times.
I don't claim to be a perfect dispatcher. I make mistakes all the time. I try hard to make them one-time mistakes.
Our job tends to be one of a command structure - there are bosses and minions, and the correct answer to an order is, "Yes Sir." ... almost always.
Back when I was a hose-dragger, there were a few things drilled into me during my training, and continually through my career. One of them that continues to ride on my shoulder is this: We are ALL responsible for safety. ANYONE can - and should - stand up and say, "Dammit, stop!" when the situation requires it.
I'm well aware that many agencies don't have the kind of leadership structure that tolerates such things. You and I can change that from the bottom up. Be the example. Be the one making the right decisions for the right reasons. If you need to stray from your agency guidelines, have a solid argument in place when they come asking questions about why you did Y instead of X. If you have the right relationship with your supervisor, ask for five minutes outside when something doesn't make sense, and ask why he chose to do this, when you were thinking that. He may have a solid reason that makes sense. Be open. Listen. Learn.
Being willing to stand up may cost you your job someday. I am entirely aware of that. I don't care to lose my job, either - but I will never place my job over stopping something that may hurt or kill one of my team.
Be tough. Be competent. Be a leader.
Call me back right away if anything changes.
