Category — OpenDiscussion

We’re not going to let a little bit of snow stop us from having fun, right?  Well 20+ inches pretty much stopped everything, but we’re a “GO” for March 9th.  So clear your calendars and invite your co-workers.  So here’s the details for lunch.  Look forward to seeing you all there.

The event details, once again:

When:  Tuesday March 9th, 2010 @ 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
(Just come any time you can)

Where:  TGI Friday’s
6460 Capitol Drive
Greenbelt, MD 20770
(301) 345-2503

Who:  Anyone, pass the invite and info along to coworkers, friends, family, and the guy sitting in the corner!

Goddard’s Chief Technologist, Peter Hughes, will meet with OpenGoddard participants on Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at noon in the Goddard Library, for a dialogue about innovation and innovation programs at Goddard. This forum will also be a place to invite conversation about the recent YouTube video criticizing NASA for stifling innovation. In case you have not heard, a video was posted on YouTube a few weeks back and received a great deal of attention. Wayne Hale, Deputy Associate Administrator for Strategic Partnerships at JSC, posted the video and his thoughts about it on his blog. He wrote that he found it “extraordinarily funny and not at all funny”. The video was part of a report out to JSC management regarding recommendations to improve innovation.

After some intense (and sometimes silly) debate, we’ve converged on our new Inspiration project slogan:

We _____ Mission Success

We… what? Exactly. Everyone at Goddard has their own contribution to make toward our Center’s success:

Engineers __design__ Mission Success
Guards __secure__ Mission Success
Mathemeticians __derive__ Mission Success
Rivers __loves__ Mission Success

You get the idea. We think this slogan will help people realize and express how their unique talents help us all achieve a common goal.

We’ll start the campaign with a bumper sticker that reads:

We __DRIVE__ Mission Success

(We’re so clever, yes, we know.) :)

The sticker (or magnet or static cling window thing) will point people to opengoddard.com, where we’ll describe the campaign and how they can be a part of it. Later on, we’ll make T-shirts, mouse pads, and other products where people can fill in the blank themselves.

The next steps are to design, secure funding for, and distribute the bumper sticker, and to dream up more ideas for what comes after that (badge tags, websites, video projects… billboards?)

If you’ve got an idea, or want to get involved, comment below!

To those who attended Tuesday’s discussion on OpenGoddard’s future: Thank You!

Here’s what we talked about. Let’s keep this discussion going!

Key Points

OpenGoddard’s key strength is in how it brings together dynamic people from diverse backgrounds on Center. Many said they benefit simply from exchanging ideas with others.

OpenGoddard’s other strength is it’s “not on the org chart”. As an unofficial group, it has freedom to try unique ideas. Similarly, it shouldn’t do what others at Goddard are already paid to do.

There used to be a culture at Goddard that encouraged people to “stay after 5pm”, strengthening the community through social events and shared interests. OpenGoddard’s projects or events, or mere existence, may serve to restore part of that culture.

General direction for new projects and events: create opportunities for people to meet, interact, and learn about other parts of the Center.

Potential New Projects

Organize ‘on-campus field trips’ to facilities like the NSSDC. Meet at a facility, meet the staff, get a guided tour, and ask questions. Facilities would fund and organize the events; OpenGoddard could develop a basic event format, encourage facilities to host them, and then help promote them, singly or as a series.

Support ‘community-building’ activities: The Public Affairs office plans to release a ’space-book’ site (social network for Goddard employees) this spring. The TV production group, meanwhile, would like to record Goddard employees on video sharing why they work at GSFC. One-minute stories could be shared internally or on “space-book” profile pages; longer pieces could appear on YouTube. OpenGoddard could organize a ‘kickoff’ event for one or both activities: introduce employees to social networking, encourage them to tape their one-minute videos, and let them mingle in real life.

‘Lightning talk’ events: Let Goddard employees introduce themselves in their native language: PowerPoint! Employees present their current or past work, personal background/interests, or an interesting idea in five minutes or less.

Write a concise definition of OpenGoddard: whether we call it a “Mission statement”, “elevator speech”, or “haiku”, describe what OpenGoddard is and does in sixty seconds / fifty words or less.

My commitment for NASA is that we inspire the planet.  So how do we really blow the roof off of our organization in order to do that?  Really, how do you take a mostly successful agency and take it to a whole other unimaginable level of success?

Well, first, let me share a model that I’m borrowing and applying to an organization, in this case to NASA.  Let’s say that there’s a finite amount of knowledge available in the universe.  NASA, as an organization, knows a certain subset of that knowledge: how to launch space shuttles, how to study the Earth, how to build spacecraft, etc.  Those are all things that NASA knows, and we know that we know it!

Then there’s a second set of knowledge in the universe, the stuff that NASA knows it doesn’t know.  In other words, NASA doesn’t know how to run a Toyota assembly line, how to do brain surgery, or how to feed all the people of the world.  This is all fine, as NASA isn’t intended to know how to do these things.  Of course, some of the things in this category are things NASA is working to learn: how to send humans back to the moon is a good example of something we currently know that we don’t know.

Then, finally, the third category of knowledge is the stuff that we, as an organization, don’t know that we don’t know.  Think of these as blind spots – the stuff that’s completely hidden from your view, that you have no idea even exists.  Also consider for a moment that perhaps this is the knowledge that is really key to reaching another unimaginable level of success.  Consider that there are things hidden from NASA’s view that would make a huge difference in the success of the agency.

Now, the good news is that in looking at this model of an organization, one could also propose that there may be folks within the agency who have this knowledge.  One could propose that the key to success is for folks to transform this knowledge from individual knowledge to organizational knowledge.  One could also propose that this is what great leadership is all about.

I think I’ve discovered one of NASA’s blind spots.  I think one of the things that we don’t know as an organization is the importance of human development.  Look at the accident reports from the two shuttle tragedies, for example.  These reports describe two different technical problems, yet they have a very common thread: a concern about culture and communication, how people weren’t able to work effectively with one another.  In response, instead of training people to relate to one another, we train them in more processes and procedures intended to avoid specific technical issues!

As I was thinking about this, I thought about my own education, at least the part that was required to get a job at NASA.  I was a typical engineer, one of those folks only interested in the physics, the math, the engineering.  I didn’t see much of a need to take any sort of human development classes, at least not any that weren’t absolutely required.  It dawned on me that it is no wonder we have trouble communicating at NASA – the vast majority of us are communicating with each other as if we’re 16 years old!  That’s about when most of us were able to focus our education on the “hard” sciences and stopped having to pay attention to those “soft” sciences and our own human development!  (This is not to say that there are no programs like this at NASA – they’re just way too few and far between!)

So I propose that if we’re going to be an exceptional agency with an unprecedented level of success, we’ve got to take a whole new revolutionary approach to human development.  We have to train our employees in who they are BEING, so that we can all transform how we communicate and how we relate to one another.  That’s the way to lay the foundation for us to achieve a whole new level of success!

Given all of that, I’m building a team that is dedicated to creating a new culture around human development at NASA!

Anyone can join the team, but team members must:

1)      be willing to develop themselves

2)      be a stand for human development in their environment

3)      take action to make a difference in other people’s lives

If you’d like to be part of the team, send me an email at Rivers.Lamb@nasa.gov, or leave a comment below!

Some of you know all the details behind why and how OpenGoddard was created.  For those of you who don’t, I won’t tell the whole story here.  In short, my goal is to inspire everyone working at Goddard (and really, throughout NASA).  I want to connect everyone with the amazing missions and projects that we work on instead of being stuck in the government and bureacracy which has a tendency to get in the way!

This next OpenGoddard project is to create a physical representation and reminder of the inspiration that space exploration provides for the world!  I got the idea from all of the “Choose Civility” car magnets floating around Howard County.  I imagine a similar type of movement - where we create something real in the world that reminds folks to associate space exploration with inspiration!

Looking around Goddard right now, I don’t think that the average employee is really excited about his or her day-to-day job.  If we don’t do anything as a group, there’s no reason to believe that will change.  I imagine a future in which people wake up in the morning and can’t wait to get to work at Goddard - a place where they are really excited and inspired because it is where they can make a difference in the world!

The OpenGoddard group met this week to go over this basic premise behind the project, and below is a short synopsis of that meeting.

Hypothesis: We are running under the assumption that people within NASA don’t feel inspired by their work while the people on the outside are totally in awe of the thought of NASA.

What is the end result?  Reminder of the excitement and inspiration of space exploration.

Where do you find support when a fresh start is needed?  New conversations are needed to foster positive thinking!  But within that there are also realities (i.e. Congress)

Thoughts on Inspiration:

Are expectations of working at NASA too high?

Maybe more management of expectation is needed

Could be done in coordination with Goddard’s 50^th anniversary

Catch phrase: Small steps to achieve the impossible – reacting to the idea that children are in awe of what NASA does

We want to remind the people inside of Goddard what the outside sees

Sometimes we lose track of why we are here

Need to create a culture where you can’t wait to go to work

Obamaesque message like “Yes We Can” or “Hope for the Future” – seeing the possibilities and sparking people to look towards the future

Want to create a mindset similar to what scientist/engineers think – We can overcome any problem – we can make the possible happen

“Choose Possibility” as a way to keep going

Organizationally, we’ll probably have four teams

• Design – what does the message look like?
• Production – what is this thing?
• Outreach/advertisement – message and coordinate with other NASA centers
• Funding – where is the money coming from?

For next week:

What is the direction we want to head? What is the message? What is it not?

PLEASE use the comment link here to leave your thoughts on the project!

Alan Stern wrote an interesting editorial for the New York Times on the budget situation at NASA: http://tinyurl.com/6yrroz

He basically makes the case that NASA has to start holding projects accountable, that NASA has to stop the practice of handing money to projects when they go over budget.  I totally agree with this point.  There’s a real lack of integrity when everyone knows that cost estimates are meaningless!

Take a look at the editorial - what do you think?

This reposting of a message that appeared on the CoLab list a few days ago. Two or three people from Langley Research Center are coming to Washington to host a Science Café event this Friday. The Science Café consists of a scientist delivering an engaging talk to the general public at a bar. LaRC is co-host of a SimulCafe, in which four of these Science Cafes will go on in Washington at the same time.

Find out more at http://www.sciencecafes.org/

The events are happening at various times around DC, so find one that’s at a time that works for you! Some OG members are going to the talk at Gordon Biersch, and the Langley folks will be at that talk as well.

Title: A Matter of Taste: The Relationship Between the Attitude About Beer and the Hop Tea Bitterness Test
Busboys & Poets
1025 5th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
6:30 – 8:30 PM, November 21, 2008

Title: Extremophiles: Can life exist without water?
Featuring: Shiladitya DasSarma, PhD. University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute
Regional Food & Drink, Back Room
810 7th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
6:30 – 8:30 PM, November 21, 2008

Speaker: TBD (NASA speaker)
Title: TBD
[café facilitated by Jen Collings, NASA-Langley Research Center]
Gordon Biersch
900 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004
5:30 – 7:30 PM, November 21, 2008

Speaker: Dan Terlizzi, University of Maryland Sea Grant Extension Service
Title: Pfisteria/Hysteria and the Chesapeake: The burden of skepticism
[café facilitated by Tina Paul, DC Area chapter of Sigma Xi]
Marriot Renaissance
999 Ninth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
8:30 – 9:30 PM, November 21, 2008

NASAWatch has a post up about a collaboration between JSC and the Houston Grand Opera to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the the ISS. It got me wondering what types of public outreach programs are going on at GSFC. I did a little searching and found two programs going on at the GSFC Visitor’s Center - one for kids called the Sunday Experiment, and one for model rocket enthusiasts. There was Launchfest earlier this year. These will attract people who are already interested in NASA, unlike the JSC/Opera program, which presents an opportunity to connect two unrelated communities.

Public support is necessary to keep NASA working. Please share the outreach programs that you’re involved in and voice your opinions. Do you wish there were more programs? Different ones? Better ones? Do you have an idea that you’d like to try out? Do you want to get involved in outreach, but aren’t sure how? Let us know what you think about public outreach at GSFC!

“Rosa sat so that Martin could walk, Martin walked so that Obama could run.”

The more I read about this election, the more I appreciate how remarkable it is to look at how this country has changed over the past few decades.  I saw the quote above and was immediately drawn to it and the way it captures the impact that individuals can have on society.

I work at NASA because I’ve always been inspired by the idea of exploration, that there’s lots out there to explore and tons of things to learn about the universe.  What strikes me relative to this quote is that as a species, I’m sure we have a future in the rest of the universe.  What exactly that looks like, I don’t know.  Yet, what we do today clearly has an impact on that future.  So what can you do today that will open up a new future for later generations?