Communication & NASA's Project Management Success

How have you dealt with major issues on a project where the communication needed fine tuning? 

Reflecting on my career, I have participated in very few team projects. I have worked in a quasi-silo as a sales professional. The people I work with day in and out are my customers, and I would like to highlight a scenario working with a hospital system in my hometown of Camden, NJ.

At a macro level, my job was introducing new medical technology into hospitals. Much of the work I did was change management- juggling various stakeholders, their interests and motivations and figuring out how to align as many people as possible together within the bureaucracy of the specific health system. After solving this puzzle, I would educate the staff to know which device to pull for which case (surgery) and train the physicians on how to use the device. 

The specific scenario highlights how an assumption of mine led to ineffective communication, which slowed down the adoption process at this health system. 

Getting in front of key physicians had taken me quite some time. After figuring out how to gain traction with several physicians, my device was brought to the Chief of Gynecological Oncology. This individual (a nice person) is tough to get in front of and is generally more motivated by healthcare economics than a marginal impact on patient outcomes and time savings- the value that my collation of physicians saw in my device. 

I got to the stage in my sales cycle called the "trial," a time when hospitals evaluate medical devices to see if they wish to integrate them into their practice. The first day we met was our first day of doing cases together. He learned how to use the device and shared with me that it would save time and likely provide marginally better outcomes in a select group of patients, but "it's never going to get approved because it costs more." My device did not cost more- I obtained this information from the operating room buyer. I shared this with him, and he responded, "Oh, then if we like this, you're fine." 

What was reinforced to me that day was to ensure that I know where every stakeholder finds value. I shared pricing with several folks early on. However, this hospital's Chief of Gynecological Oncology was not one of those folks. I never shared that the price is lower in the emails I sent him- ones he hadn't responded to. Had I added a few more words to my previous emails to him, I may have streamlined adoption at this facility. I estimate that this delayed adoption by approximately five months. 

Discuss what, in your mind, are the key drivers behind NASA's unprecedented program/project management success of Curiosity, Opportunity, and, more importantly (and IMPRESSIVELY), New Horizons.

I enjoyed learning about these missions. My initial takeaway was that these successes were due to incredible attention to detail from all parties involved- less the failure with metrication in 1998, NASA appears to have found consistent success with their missions. Then I consider, why? 

NASA has much more on the line than non-space exploration organizations and even those in the same space. Let's think about the reaction from Elon Musk when one of his SpaceX rockets malfunctions. He laughs. It sounds wild, but it might be a normal response when you understand that you'll learn from the failure and still have the funds to keep your operation alive. NASA does not have this luxury. They receive funding from the government and tax dollars rather than venture capital. The margin for error is thin for NASA, while it isn't for SpaceX. Project management within business is no different than SpaceX. Generally speaking, companies can recover from failure more efficiently, and failure could provide unknown benefits from the learnings they provide. NASA will learn, but too many failures, and the government will likely cut funding.  

A final note: NASA is coming out with a streaming service called "NASA Plus." This is not a cash grab, as NASA will offer ad-free streaming on original content they produce. Thinking about this, they are future-proofing their existence. Today, NASA has competition. Space exploration will become accessible for future generations. Their streaming service reminds the US tax-paying population that NASA's budget should never be in question. Perhaps if they succeed, their attention to detail and project management will suffer. 

Posted 8/30/23