Fwd: Professor relates shuttle disasters to management lessons

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: October 29, 2015 at 10:14:17 AM EDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Professor relates shuttle disasters to management lessons

 

http://www.dailytitan.com/2015/10/professor-relates-shuttle-disasters-to-management-lessons/

 

Cal State Fullerton Daily Titan — 6:02 am ET (1002 GMT)

 

 

 

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Professor relates shuttle disasters to management lessons

By

Graham McTague

 

– Posted on October 27, 2015
Posted in: Campus News, News

Mark Maier, Chapman University professor, demonstrated how the space shuttle failures took place. Tuesday's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute seminar is a part of their "Eclectic" lecture series.
(Renzy Reyes / Daily Titan)

In an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) hosted seminar, Mark Maier, Ph.D., presented NASA's Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters through the lenses of organization and management leadership lessons, Tuesday.

Maier used the two shuttle disasters as examples of decision making and risk assessment.

Maier is the associate professor of leadership in the College of Educational Studies at Chapman University and is also director of the undergraduate Leadership Studies Program.

Maier introduced two prominent styles of leadership, "the power model" and "the service model," along with his proposed "alternative paradigm" to these existing methods.

"(The power model) is the prevailing model of leadership," Maier said.
This style of leadership is anchored on control from the boss and how a person can maximize their own personal gain without upsetting the leader, he said.

It was NASA's reliance on the power model that led to the disasters during the Challenger and Columbia launches, Maier said.

Maier agreed with a vocal member of the audience that most successful businesses use a combination of both the power and service leadership models.

"You have two tragic failures, separated 17 years apart," said Maier.

"Those who can't learn from the past are destined to repeat it."
He said that there is a way to prevent situations like the Challenger's from happening by embracing a newer approach to leadership.

Maier continued his demonstration by going over the complications that occurred during the takeoff of the Challenger spacecraft, explaining that there were roughly 829 critical items that needed to be in perfect condition before take-off.

Problems with a rubber sealant ring, known as the O-ring, were neglected by NASA employees, Maier said. This led to the shuttle's explosion.

Maier explained how NASA had a hierarchy at the time that was designed to catch problems early in order to avoid complications with the project.

After discovering problems with the O-rings, Maier said workers on the shuttle brought them to NASA's attention. The contributing factors to these problems were later withdrawn from the files which were submitted to higher level staff.

"Bad news is being kept from them," Maier said. "One of the reasons for that is that NASA has already invested $100 million in building a second launch facility."

Another reason the information was withheld from NASA executives was because of the management hierarchy, Maier said. Staff members were too scared to bring the O-ring issue to the attention of their bosses and that it is a consequence of following the power model, he said.

"There's actually a lot of fear … that characterizes (the power) model," Maier said. "Fear on the part of people who hold power to not have their power challenged."

The power model conflicts with Maier's proposed model.

"That's very different from this alternative view, which is the service model of leadership," Maier said. "It's anchored in service. You're not serving the boss but all of you together are serving a higher purpose."

Maier said that in the service model approach, the focus is generated towards the long term success of the organization and what it represents, an approach that he favored over the power model.

"We're so enamored with this idea that it's the results that count first," Maier said. "Goals and results obviously matter, but they should be driven by your vision and your purpose."

 

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