next OpenGoddard project!
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 50th 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!
24 comments
I liked the “Small Steps” idea, not so much as an allusion to ‘baby steps’ or a child’s wonder of NASA, but as a way to connect back to the Big Idea. We talked about how new-hires have the public’s high expectation of NASA, then lose it in the daily grind. A “Small Steps” campaign might remind people that, yes, writing that memo, or going to that status meeting, really will get us to the Moon and the stars.
As for format, bumper stickers work for “Think Civility” because that’s how you spread a viral message in a large area. People put it on their cars, and pretty soon you can’t drive anywhere in HoCo without seeing stickers everywhere.
If we’re inspiring people at GSFC, we should put the message where other Goddard folks will see it. Badge cards (a credit-card-sized design you’d slip into your badge holder) are a great example. Everyone sees your badge, including yourself when you put the thing on every morning. Another thought: signs to put above the name placard outside your office door. What if every time you went to a status meeting, you saw ten “Small Steps” signs on the way there?
Awesome thoughts, Rivers.
We’ve been thinking about that at Ames. I personally think getting out there and talking to non-NASA people is one of the best ways to get reinvigorated. This won’t work for everyone, but it will for a lot of people.
At Ames we’ve discussed the idea of having clear physical monuments about what we are walking on (this is more of an Ames problem because in general there are not many visible spacecraft for us). But basically, having some everyday reminder of what we are filling out paper work/ going to meetings/ butting heads with others for.
I also think having a (cool) little booklet or something that allows you to share what your work is with others would be really cool.
For the message– sounds like this is more internal focused, but the big picture messages (like, that NASA brings humanity forward into space) are more motivating sometimes that Center/ mission specific messages.
How about: “Take a Giant Leap”- if you wanted to go the Armstrong quote route (for the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 perhaps? 7/20/2009). I want something that inspires people in and out of NASA to THINK BIG. I don’t want people to lower their expectations of NASA, I want them to raise NASA to meet their expectations! That may involve some big leaps!
I also like the idea of a car magnet, easy to put on and take off, should also have stickers for Gen Y laptops. Cards you can see throughout the day on site/on lab are good too, whether on ID badge or above people’s name on the wall (good idea Kevin!). Whatever it is though it has to look very cool…
Rivers, though NASA can’t advertise/market itself publicly, I love the idea of an internal volunteer marketing/outreach team for these ideas; I suspect that a lot that can be done by motivated NASA employees on their own time to overtly organize and inspire each other without running afoul of any HR policy or other legal issues.
I’d break down the work at hand into these general categories:
1) Cultural: creating a culture of “yes” inside NASA, and ensure that it’s fun and challenging to come to work every day. This is the bumper sticker realm. Important, but not effective without also:
2) Structural: We need a dynamic NASA-wide community of practice dedicated to supporting and inspiring each other, and capable of working collaboratively in an organized fashion. Organized labor of a different form perhaps– one in which someone who is top management is as welcome– as a peer in this context– and important as the newest hire fresh out of college, and vice-versa…. A complement to traditional top-down organization of the NASA workplace. A more structured network of OpenXXXXX groups in which each local (Center) group supports the creation of another until all Centers are represented would be a natural way to build this. This network would not only report on news and collaboratively develop ideas and initiatives at their Center, but also with each other share best practices in re: offline group meetings, appropriate use of social media tools, strategies for interfacing with top-down management processes at each Center, how to be inclusive of all ages and backgrounds within NASA, etc.
3) Political: Work with top-down management to create regular opportunities for bottom-up and top-down to interface with one another, learn from one another, and support one another; clarify HR policies so that NASA employees are clear what they are and are not permitted to do on their own time in the realm of organizing and outreach etc., especially when this work is publicly visible, as on this OpenGoddard website.
4) Infrastructure: This website (and its peers at OpenNASA.com and OpenLARC.com) has been a catalyst to propagate the “open” meme, as well as to convene a growing community of practice within NASA dedicated to informal organizational change management that cuts across the geographic and cultural segregation that exists between Centers. Help each Center develop their site, link the sites and make login and profile data portable across them. Create offline co-working spaces to complement the online openXXXX spaces. Also consider extending the structure to each Mission Directorate, so that the “Open” communities can begin to transcend the thematically segregated communities within NASA, as well as the geographically segregated communities.
Can’t wait to see where this goes. Thanks for doing it.
Andrew
Good job on the topic, Rivers. Really interesting project.
Points to consider:
- There need not be just one slogan. Unlike a community with one goal, our NASA (or Goddard) community consists of multiple sub-communities; hence, making it terribly difficult to satisfy all with one.
- Similarly, there ought be multiple avenues to spread this inspiration concoction… not just bumper stickers.
- It is probably wise to make the slogan(s) agency-friendly, not just Goddard-friendly - for future endeavors.
Few Slogan Ideas:
No use reinventing the wheel when the NASA vision and mission has enough meat to get to the heart of why most people work here. (Each has two lines of text)
1. Protect our planet
…as only NASA can
2. Extend life to there
…as only NASA can
3. Demand exploration
…as only NASA can
4. Spread inspiration
… as only NASA can
5. Accomplish the impossible
…as only NASA can
6. Thrive in Space
… as only NASA can
7. Enrich lives
… as only NASA can
Hope this helps!
I’m wondering if the discussion is moving forward with very specific ideas for how to display the message before we’ve really discussed what the message is and how the message itself is expected to lead to change. The nature of the message may dictate how it is displayed.
During the meeting we went back and forth between external perceptions of NASA vs internal employee perceptions of GSFC and our work within GSFC. Do we want to be excited about working at NASA or more specifically at GSFC? Does it make a difference?
To me, the bumper sticker style message is a rallying slogan but without an actual program behind it, it might be little empty. The bumper sticker style message needs to represent something relatively concrete. May be that something is a statement of what we would like Goddard/NASA to represent for us, or a list of principles, something that doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker. Perhaps the bumper sticker message is a representation of the spirit of OpenGoddard and its activities.
It’s the age old question of how do you get excited about doing the daily grind?
I think the typical failure mode is you’re first excited about a new position, but you soon get comfortable and then the novelty wears off. I know that happened with me and my first engineering position as a defense contractor. I don’t think I had a gut level passion for the industry, but it was novel at first and I got through the grind because there were some exciting times, but the typical day was not that fun.
So, I think that first there has to be a gut level passion for what you’re doing or its non-starter. Even if it’s there, it’s not a guarantee that you’ll never get bored because all jobs have mundane tasks. I think that you have to remind yourself of that gut level passion especially when the job is boring. Right now , whenever I get into a bored or indifferent state, I just watch this video and I get fired up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnFMrNdj1yY&feature=related
I like Rivers idea of steps or somehow tying this to childhood, when you were really passionate about things and life in general.
How about the slogan:
What do you want to be when you grow up? or
Why did you decide to work for Nasa? or Why do you do what you do?
or something else catchy
Then you could have a link to OpenGoddard where its encouraged to write stories and post videos about what made you want to work for Nasa in first place. This collage of stories would be there to rekindle the fire if anybody gets depressed with work. :)
Just a thought.
I’m from Langley, and I’m here to help ;) I like Andrew’s thoughts a lot, especially about the “open” sites at the centers getting together to create a common networked approach. As the creator of openLangley, I would love to work together with you all to see how we can excite our respective centers as well as the rest of the agency and the public. Tall order. But it can be done, I am convinced. What NASA does is exciting but we’re often blind to it because we work here. When I go to my kids’ school, where they are in the first grade, everyone is excited that I am from NASA … and it always surprises, pleases and inspires me. We need to both project this feeling outward — and back at ourselves too.
Andrew - Your comments don’t address the invisible majority of employees at GSFC (and possibly NASA) - that is, contractors. After 21 years of working here I still can hardly believe I get paid for fulfilling my childhood dreams - but in so many ways, contractors seem to be considered to be disposable, interchangeable hirelings, here only to make a quick buck.
It’s so wonderful to hear everyone’s brilliant ideas for how to renew inspiration at NASA both inside and out! I’m also a contractor at Goddard, working for the TV group, so luckily I’m right in the heart of the inspiration floating around the center, despite any drawbacks to the disposability issue (I think all contractors feel that to some extent). I’m so excited by your ideas! In particular, I’m thinking of the suggested site where employees can potentially post their own videos and stories about what inspired them to work at NASA and what continues to inspire them everyday. As informal educators, our group’s strength lies not in our ability to educate, but, in fact, to inspire others to learn more on their own about planets, stars, climate change, and NASA! So, I’ve been advocating for our group to create an ongoing series of video profiles of Goddard employees, from all levels within the organization, but time constraints keep pushing the project off the table. It’s these types of personal stories that have an incredible power to move us emotionally, and its unfortunately something we currently do very little of here at Goddard. Despite current workloads, I’m not giving-up on the idea, and I sincerely hope we can evolve this idea at the next meeting to match what you think will inspire employees the most. Just to throw an idea out there, we’ve been thinking of setting aside one day for an American Idol style contest where employees go on camera in our studio to answer the question “Why do you work at NASA?”. We could then follow the most exciting and engaging participants to create fully fleshed-out films about their passions, then open up voting for the short videos to both internal employees and the general public on our website. This is just one idea, and we would love to hear your thoughts on other ways we can create a more open, interactive, and inspirational environment in terms of the videos we create and stories we tell here. As far as slogans go, how about “Living my childhood dream (NASA logo)” or “I’m living my childhood dream…are you?” Maybe it sounds a bit full of itself, but it certainly makes me stop and think about where I stand at this very moment in my life. See you all tomorrow!
Rivers et al - as I suggested at our gathering last week, a good place to start with this project, is the end. What does GSFC (NASA) look like if your project is completely successful? You can then ask yourself, what had to happen to ‘make it so’ (with all due respect Capt. Picard!). In this way, I’m aligned with Barbara’s comments about having ‘a program behind it’. If you start at the end, it is possible for you to see the ‘program behind it’ that ‘already happened’, and perhaps a part of that program being successful was some kind of ‘bumper magnet’, or ’screen saver’ with the appropriate words. (BTW, I like “Choose Possibility!” as a screen saver with some cool inspiring images in which clearly someone chose ‘possibility’ over cynicism or resignation .
Notes from 12/9/08 Meeting:
Discussion today revolved around the idea behind the message and what the slogan should be.
Idea/thought behind the whole project:
Everyone should feel part of the community whose role is vital/critical to the success of GSFC’s even NASA’s mission.
Slogan ideas:
We Are Mission Success
Many Missions, Many People.
Please submit your slogan ideas here!
NASA’s “Reach” commercial - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3BxBeLzbg8 — made me think of “Reach… out of your cubicle.”
In thinking about this project and having “back-up” to the slogan/bumper sticker/icon I thought of having a website with people’s biographies. Something akin to the Women of NASA site http://quest.nasa.gov/women/WON.html Except on the “Be Inspired” site the biographies could highlight what inspires each employee or what excites them about their work or why they work at Goddard (or NASA). AIAA has a campaign called “When did you know?” And they have profiles of folks about when they knew they wanted a career in aerospace.
I like the idea of starting with inspiring/energizing Goddard employees, but undoubtedly it could expand to those outside the gates too.
I just read Austin’s post - guess we’re thinking along the same lines…
During today’s meeting I mentioned the New Employee Orientation. It’s official slogan is: WELCOME TO THE NASA GODDARD FAMILY: CAPTIVATING, CULTIVATING AND CHALLENGING YOU!
For a long list of NASA slogan coming out of a 2007 competition, see WIRED article: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/10/and-the-winner-.html. These are slogans for NASA as an organization, targeting the general public. I think we’re looking for something that’s meant for people who work at Goddard/NASA rather than the general public. Still, they might help identify specific themes, words, etc… or things to avoid.
Great ideas, everyone! Each of us has a vision for what this should look like, myself included (below), but I see some common threads:
We seem to agree that inspiring Goddard folk means reminding them of what made them want to work here (childhood dreams), what keeps them here (exciting projects), and why their ‘daily grind’ work matters.
We also seem to agree that a bumper sticker can’t convey that inspiration by itself. However, many ideas use it as a way for people to express agreement with a more detailed message found elsewhere.
That message, it appears, is a personal story: everyone has their own dreams, and makes their own contribution to NASA. The campaign should at least inspire each person here to think about their own story. Many ideas have people sharing their story, too, in writing or on video, in real life or online.
Perhaps the end point Gerry is asking us to find is a place where everyone has that story in mind, and “What’s your story?” precedes “What code are you in?” when one Goddard person meets another. We’ve thought of a few of many ways to get there.
Okay, enough with “finding common ground”. Now… my pet idea! :)
I really liked Barbara’s tag-line: “I am mission success.” (I prefer “I am mission-critical.”, but either works.) I think it clearly expresses the idea that each of us matters.
We could ask Goddard folks to visit a website (IAmMissionCritical.com?) and write their stories: why they work here, what they do, and why it matters. We’ll feature them on that site, and perhaps in Goddard View, on the new intranet, or elsewhere.
We’d also feature the best (most inspirational, etc., in our opinion or through online voting) on posters seen all over Center. We should make examples of those brave (initially) few people who choose to find their story. I think people would see it and say, “If they’re mission-critical, maybe I am too.” Then, when they put an “I am mission-critical.” sign on their door, or wears the t-shirt or the badge tag, they’re connecting with those stories and declaring that they have one, too.
The example poster (link below) features a Resource Analyst. Someone asked if, say, the janitor might see these and think ‘Okay, they matter, but I still don’t’. If we’re right, and truly everyone here matters, then why not feature a janitor on a poster? I’m picturing someone in a maroon apron, leaning on a mop, in front of a NASA insignia inlaid in the floor. The story starts, “I make NASA sparkle…”, about how proud he is to make this place clean and safe for people to work, and that visitors see GSFC looking the best it can be. I think that hits “I don’t matter” head on!
This, of course, is just one example of how to combine a tag-line and multiple venues to create the reality we want. What do you think?
Example “I Am Mission-Critical” poster: http://www.umbc.edu/~kfisher1/opengoddard/mission_critical_mockup.pdf
Awesome! I love the idea of having a visible slogan or catch phrase that points folks to a place where we have people’s stories as Kevin describes!
What ideas do we have for the slogan? I like something along the lines of “Working together to explore the universe.”
Deborah, I really enjoyed your story.
Kevin, I think you summed it up quite well.
By the way, here’s the WETA Video of Goddard:
http://www.weta.org/tv/local/wetaallaccess/nasa
As far as slogans, I’ve got:
“There is no I in Goddard”
“Goddard: Gold Collar Jobs”
“Inspire the planet like it’s 1969!”
Rivers-I like where you’re going with that.
Along the vein of the “small steps” slogan, how about an equation? Small Steps / Time = Giant Leaps
i.e., “small steps over time equals giant leaps”
One of the team projects from the 2006 class of Leadership Alchemy was to highlight “unsung heroes” in the “Goddard View” (see http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/pdf/163037main_GV_2_19.pdf). Apparently this effort has continued as “employee spotlights”, and the Goddard View has a profile of someone in each issue.
So this begs the question… if Goddard has already been doing this sort of thing for 2+ years, what would be (or needs to be) different or innovative or more impactful about what is being discussed here? Or, are people already inspired by these stories, and we just don’t know it? :-)
How about something like “Dream Bigger Dreams” for the slogan? Something that relates with Robert Goddard’s famous quote: “It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.”
While I know what you mean by being inspired like it is 1969, I think it would be better if we look into future and aim for even higher inspirations and goals, rather than referring to the past as a measure of our future success.
I don’t see a way to start a new conversation so I’ll post this here as a comment to an existing post even though it’s really a different thread.
Yesterday’s conversation in the library reflected the fact that OpenGoddard seems to be evolving. It’s perfectly natural for such a group to evolve and it can be a sign of good health and a dynamic community. Let’s consider for a minute that there are two kinds of growth — I’m oversimplifying — : One kind of growth is organic, it’s just happening on its own, based on the community’s common interests; the second kind of growth is planned. Planned growth typically involves a stronger leadership and a stronger sense of purpose and intent.
So, what does the current evolution of the group look like? And what kind of group is it? I apologize for bringing in some knowledge management language here but is OpenGoddard a Community of Practice (CoP) or a Community of Interest (CoI)? I think it is a Community of Interest. It brings people together people who have a shared interest in Goddard’s work and in bringing new ideas to the table. A Community of Practice, on the other hand, would bring people together who do similar work and are able to learn from each other and their shared work experiences even if they do not work in the same organizational units.
I think that the nature of the group and what it hopes to accomplish or what it hopes to be for its participants needs to be an ongoing conversation but a conversation that doesn’t end up overtaking the Tuesday meeting too often.
Thoughts?
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