A630.5.4.RB- NASA Culture Change

After watching NASA Cultural Changes:

• Why did NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe address NASA employees to describe the plan to bring about proposed changes to NASA's culture?
• Was he believable? Is it important whether he appeared to be believable?
• Why did he talk about NASA values?
• What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

Once you have reflected upon these questions, list any other questions or insights that have come to you as a result of this exercise.

On February 1, 2003, space shuttle Columbia fell to pieces in its to Earth, killing seven astronauts. The accident shut down NASA flights for more than two years.

An investigation board determined that the cause was a large piece of foam fatally breached the spacecraft wing. This foam problem had been known for years, and NASA came under intense scrutiny in Congress and in the media for ignoring it (Howell, 2013).

After the tragedy with space shuttle Columbia, an assessment was done by BST to see what may have cause the accident (C-SPAN, 2004). Where were the weaknesses within the organization? O’Keefe talked about the assessment that was done and how it applies to all of them and all that they do and every aspect of the organization. The assessment brought to light that it wasn’t just one department, one area of the organization; it is much broader than that. 

O’Keefe was trying to address the ways NASA could make strides to improve values and culture. O’Keefe goes on to state that NASA already instills high values in and around their company culture from a survey standpoint, but there is still room for improvement. By addressing the employees directly and taking questions as well he is making a point that it involves everyone in the organization. He even told them that it needed to start with leadership including him because it is not as good as it should be. He said that it needs to be thought of as constructively about what can be done to strength the culture of NASA.

He appeared to be believable as he continued to talk. I found it interesting that when he first started talking and the video scanned the audience one member was smirking and appeared to have a look that said he didn’t quite believe what O’Keefe was saying. As the talk went on and the video scanned the same person again it appeared that he was actually listening to what O’Keefe had to say. from an informational standpoint, his information seemed factual. In short intervals during the talk, he seemed enveloped with the passion I expect for a charismatic speaker - he simply may not be one. I tend to trust people who speak from the heart with a few notes more than someone who sounds scripted, but some people are genuinely nervous (working at a STEM university, I see this quite often). It is important that he appeared believable because if they don’t believe what he has to say they will be less likely to want to make the needed changes since leadership doesn’t believe it either. Though he stated that he was reporting data based from one of their company surveys, there is always the possibility results were slighted in favor of the organization. Brown (2011) makes clear that, “to be successful in the twenty-first century, organizations must have flexibility and the ability for rapid transformation. However, many organizations move along a well-worn path, and problems are often concealed or hidden” (Brown, 2011, p. 116). This is the reaon why many workers do not trust the higher-ups.

Having a distinguishing set of core values to relate back to and work from helps to give employees and leaders direction and a sense of culture through out the organization. O’Keefe pointed out was that though NASA had many of the values already in place there was definitely room for improvement. BST showed that change needed to occur. Besides the physical cause – the foam – CAIB had a damning assessment about the culture at NASA that led to the foam problem and other safety issues being minimized over the years (2013). Culture changes needed to made in terms of respect for other professionals and trust that individuals could and would to carry out tasks. He said this is an area that needs more work. There has to be respect for one another and their views. Another area was safety and that the view in concept that safety is not bad but it is not good enough. There should have never been a fear of speaking up about problems, particularly when so much sacrifice from people, and money, is involved. He suggested, "we get leadership up out of their offices and walking around." This shows that NASA understood a grassroots commitment to making the working environment more communicative for everyone.

What I can take away from this exercise that that you will not know what is working or not working in your department if you do not ask the workers! It builds communication and trust that is invaluable as a supervisor and a supervisee. Last year, my director asked my supervisor and I to put together a list of things that we feel will increase the quality of our work experience outside of a raise. Many of the things I need are intangible: I need to feel wanted. I like to be creative, so anything which involved creating something is fun for me. My scheduling needs to be flexible. Small changes matter, and I do enjoy my job more now that my thoughts are valued and I do not feel like someone is simply trying to cover themselves from fallibility.


References

Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.

C-SPAN. (2004). C-SPAN Video Library. Accessed at http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/SACu

Howell, E. (2013). Columbia Disaster: What Happened, What NASA Learned. Space.

Accessed at http://www.space.com/19436-columbia-disaster.html