Developing Project Excellence in a Complex World

Developing Project Excellence
in a Complex World
Dr. Ed Hoffman
NASA Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership
http://appel.nasa.gov

Exploring Saturn and Its Moons Close Up
Image from Voyager 2 (1981)
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Cassini‐Huygens
‣ U.S. ‐ European mission to explore Saturn
‣ NASA and Italian Space Agency: Cassini spacecraft
‣ European Space Agency: Huygens probe
‣ Launched October 1997
‣ 6.7 year voyage to Saturn
‣ $3.27 billion total cost to date
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Cassini and Huygens
Cassini
• Delivered Huygens probe
to Titan
• Remained in orbit around
Saturn for detailed studies
of the planet, its rings and
satellites (moons)
Huygens
• Released by Cassini to land
on surface of Saturn’s moon
Titan
• Investigated characteristics
of Titan’s atmosphere and
surface
Cassini
Huygens
Saturn
Titan
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Cassini‐Huygens: the Complex Project Environment
Complex Project-Based
Functional
Organization
Organization
Problems Novel Routine
Technology New/invented Improved/more efficient
Team Global, multidisciplinary Local, homogeneous
Cost Life cycle Unit
Schedule Project completion Productivity rate
Customer Involved at inception Involved at point of sale
Survival skill Adaptation Control/stability
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Technical Complexity: Zero Room for Error
‣ Journey to Saturn included
“gravity assists” (slingshot
acceleration effects) from
Venus, Earth and Jupiter -
incredibly precise timing
‣ Cassini orbiter would “insert”
Huygens probe in orbit of
Titan (one of Saturn’s
moons)
Cassini trajectory to Saturn
‣ Complex communications
among Cassini, Huygens,
Deep Space Network, and
ground system
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Huygens descent to surface of Titan

Organizational and Strategic Complexity
Italian Space Agency
NASA
ESA
Cassini high-gain
antenna; radio
subsystem
equipment
Cassini orbiter;
launch vehicle
and associated
integration & test
Huygens probe
and associated
communications
equipment on
Cassini orbiter
International partnerships affect
organizational and strategic complexity
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Organizational Complexity: The Science Mission
• 260 scientists
• 17 countries
• 10 time zones
• 18 scientific instruments (payloads)
with Principal Investigators
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Project Management Challenge
All 18 payloads had reserves
• Cost ($ per fiscal year)
• Mass (kg)
• Power (watts)
• Data rate to the spacecraft bus (kilobytes/second)
Overruns would lead to de‐scoping (i.e., instruments cut)
Problem:
How would you manage the reserves to increase the
likelihood that all instruments would fly on the spacecraft?
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Project Management Challenge Resolved
Solution:
Electronic trading exchange for Principal Investigators to
trade reserves in cost, mass, power, and data rate.
• Governed by project management team (incl. veto
power)
• Created win‐win incentive for all
• Gave PIs ownership / assured buy‐in
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A New Way of Thinking and Learning
To cope with a challenging world,
any entity must develop the capacity of
shifting and changing—
of developing new skills and attitudes;
in short the capacity of learning.
Arie De Geus, The Living Company
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Qualities of an Adaptive Organization
1. Elephants in the room are named.
2. Responsibility for the future is shared.
3. Independent judgment is expected.
4. Leadership capacity is developed.
5. Reflection and continuous learning are
institutionalized.
Source: Grashow, Heifetz, & Linsky, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership
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Project‐Based Environment
Strengths
• Adaptable to changing
circumstances
Weaknesses
• Diffuse authority /
lack of direct control
• Customer orientation
• Tunnel vision
• Focus on product, not
organization
• Multidisciplinary teams
• Organizational cohesion
‣ Decentralized
learning
‣ Knowledge sharing
across community
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Why a Project Academy at NASA?
To help transform NASA’s project‐based environment into a learning organization
Columbia
accident
Mars
failures
2003
1999
Challenger
accident
1986
“NASA's current organization…
has not demonstrated the characteristics of a
learning organization.”
Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report
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Meeting Multiple Needs
INDIVIDUAL
COMPETENCIES
TEAM
PROJECT SUCCESS
ORGANIZATION
SUSTAINABILITY
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Integrated Competency Model
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Project Academy Roles and Responsibilities
‣ Project workforce development
‣ Advocacy for the learning requirements of practitioners
‣ Defining key concepts and vocabulary for the project
community
‣ Alignment with corporate strategy
‣ Alignment with external stakeholders
‣ Promotion of communities of lifelong learning
‣ Promotion of sustainable organizational capability
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Key Assumptions and Biases
‣ Practitioners know best.
‣ 85‐90% of learning takes place on the job.
‣ Learning is contextual — different career stages have
different requirements.
‣ Optimal performance and learning come together at the
team level.
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Align and Focus
Align with organizational strategy,
focus on practitioners.
Mission
requirements
Competency
model
Career
development
framework
Training curriculum
for all career levels
Hands‐on
assignments
Coaching and
mentoring
Expert practitioner
support to teams
Knowledge
sharing
forums &
publications
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Individual, Team, Organization
INDIVIDUAL
TEAM
ORGANIZATION
APPROACH
• Training curriculum
Direct support to
Knowledge sharing
• Development programs
project teams
ACTIVITIES
•core
• online
•forums
curriculum
assessments
• publications
•in‐depth
•workshops
•case studies
offerings
•mentoring /
• multimedia
• hands‐on
coaching
• communities of practice
opportunities
•expert practitioners
•team building
• technical support
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Individual
‣ Training curriculum
- Core for 4 career levels
- In‐depth offerings
‣ Hands‐on opportunities and
developmental assignments
PMI Registered Provider of Professional Development Units
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Direct support to project teams
Team
‣ Online assessments
‣ Workshops
‣ Mentoring and coaching
‣ Expert practitioners and technical
lifecycle support
‣ Team building and process
support
http://appel.nasa.gov

Organization
Knowledge sharing
‣ Forums for project managers,
systems engineers, and
principal investigators
‣ Publications
‣ Case studies
‣ Multimedia
‣ Communities of practice
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Developing Project Excellence
In a world of complex projects, adaptability is critical.
Project excellence depends on capability at the
individual, team, and organizational levels.
A project academy can serve a focal point for learning
and aligning projects with strategic goals.
http://appel.nasa.gov