Space Acquisition - Air Force Space Command

on the ground” in the contractor’s facility and “face-to-face”
time with the users on a regular basis is vital to understanding
what is really going on; these give another perspective to the
facts provided in earned value management system reports and
program management reviews.
Author James D. Rendleman: I worked on a program where
the prime contractor demanded the government deliver a very
specific space shuttle launch window for its payload. This presumed
launch window did not match any calculations made by
NASA’s engineers and its vast array of computer-based mission
planning resources. The dispute festered until one day, while
walking through the contractor’s facility, the government mission
design lead saw a globe with a string hanging from its
North Pole. He asked, “What’s the string used for” “To calculate
the launch window requirements.” This is a rather sad,
but true story.
Value brilliance no matter how it is packaged. Select excellence
always.
Rendleman: I have seen contractor managers thrown out of
meetings by NASA because they didn’t know their systems;
interestingly, in a moment that demonstrated excellence really
mattered, the same Texas-bred, blue-jeaned NASA engineer
managers then insisted on only talking to the contractor’s
uniquely flamboyant software engineer, because that engineer
really understood the system. Refreshing!
Give team members authority and power and then hold them
accountable. Ensure individuals are accountable, not committees;
you cannot hold committees accountable. Proper alignment
of authority, power, and accountability are essential and
must apply to everyone at all levels. Numerous texts and studies
point out that authority, power, and accountability must be
consistent. The problems created by TSPR that were described
previously are a classic example of how improper alignment of
authority, power, and accountability can cause programmatic
failures; under TSPR, US Air Force program managers had no
authority to resolve the problems they faced.
1b. Organize to be lean and mean.
Keep management teams small and focused; always be prepared
to optimize team staff and organization as the program
evolves. This approach reflects the best sentiments of Battle’s
Laws and philosophy.
Today, this approach is in practice at the mission control
stations for DigitalGlobe® and GeoEye®, 17 in small payloads
at the University of Colorado, and in operations at the US Air
Force Reserve 6 th Space Operations Squadron—the backup for
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Defense
Metrological Satellite Program. The APL is flying a mission
to Pluto and another to Mercury out of the same mission
control center—which, based on the physical space, the JPL or
Johnson Space Center would consider a conference room. The
footprint of the 45 th Space Wing and Space and Missile Systems
Center military launch combined task force has been dramatically
reduced, as the business case for United Launch Alliance
activities bears out. 18 In terms of acquisitions, this approach is
successfully employed in payloads that are being developed by
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air
Force Research Laboratory.
Also, use committees and integrated process teams (IPTs)
judiciously. If you form one, it should have a specific purpose
and be disbanded when its purpose is fulfilled. Committees do
not make decisions and the staff and lawyers only tell you what
you already know or cannot use—so minimize the use of committees
to that which is necessary. You still need individuals
who you can hold responsible.
Rendleman: Once, while visiting former Deputy Secretary of
Defense Gordon England in his office, while he was executive
vice president of General Dynamics, I asked him where his staff
was. He replied, “I don’t need a staff. I hire people who know
their business. Staff will only tell me things I already know.”
England was part of a management team that helped General
Dynamics restructure and become more efficient.
IPTs have a place and are valuable when used properly. Do
not let IPTs (or committees) take on “a life of their own.” Some
programs get hopelessly bogged down in committee meetings
and management reviews, expending hour upon hour of the
government and contractor teams’ time in preparing for, attending,
and debriefing meetings. Team optimization might entail
eliminating IPTs (or their equivalents) if they are not as effective
as they were in an earlier stage of the program. Alternatively,
it might be better to streamline IPTs and/or shift resources
among IPTs for greater effectiveness.
1c. Build and maintain healthy, open, professional relationships
with team members, counterparts, and contractors.
Rely strongly on the recommendations of your team members,
but make sure they give problems sufficient consideration.
Make sure their decision loops are short; they have solid,
agreed-to definitions of their authorities and accountabilities;
and that they understand the processes for making decisions.
Taverney: While commander of Space Launch and Range, I
was fortunate to have previously-developed relationships and
friendships within each of the launch contractors. When I
would hear about a problem, I was never shy about calling the
contractor’s expert in-the-know to get the on-the-ground truth.
Contractors do not usually try to hide anything from you; but
when a problem surfaces, it may be hard at first to determine
what precisely has occurred—as the communications may come
through various paths and may be filtered by a variety of people.
Putting your feet in your contractor’s or user’s facility is also
a great way for creating and nurturing working relationships.
As the authors moved up in the ranks, the relationships they
built while working at contractors’ facilities later gave them direct
communication channels they could rely on to ascertain
what was really going on. 19
Enhance communication with your industry counterparts
with consistent, frequent personal contact. This is critical to
success in all businesses. The authors have met successful
managers and leaders in various industries and it was clear that
their success was invariably tied to personal partnering with
customers, team members, and suppliers. One cannot foster
solid relationships by reading status reports or other documents
of success or failure.
57 High Frontier