Why
did NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe address NASA employees to describe the plan
to bring about proposed changes to NASA's culture? After
the tragedy with space shuttle Columbia, an assessment was done by BST to see
what may have cause the accident. Where were
the weaknesses within the organization?
O’Keefe talked about the assessment that was done and how it applies to
all of them and all that they do and every aspect of the organization. The assessment brought to light that it wasn’t
just one department, one area of the organization; it is much broader than that.
He made it known that
though there were many aspects of what NASA has done that adds to the culture
of NASA but there were many areas that demanded improvement. By addressing the employees directly and
taking questions as well he is making a point that it involves everyone in the
organization. He even told them that it
needed to start with leadership including him because it is not as good as it
should be. He said that it needs to be
thought of as constructively about what can be done to strength the culture of
NASA.
Was
he believable? Is it important whether he appeared to be believable? He appeared to be believable as he continued
to talk. I found it interesting that
when he first started talking and the video scanned the audience one member was
smirking and appeared to have a look that said he didn’t quite believe what O’Keefe
was saying. As the talk went on and the
video scanned the same person again it appeared that he was actually listening
to what O’Keefe had to say. I think that
it is very important that he appeared believable because if they don’t believe what
he has to say they will be less likely to want to make the needed changes since
leadership doesn’t believe it either.
Why
did he talk about NASA values? O’Keefe pointed out was that though NASA had
many of the values already in place there was definitely room for improvement. The assessment from BST made it clear that change
was needed. He touched on some
interesting points that he thought were vital to the cultural change with NASA. One of them was respect for each other
professionally to carry out tasks. He
said this is an area that needs more work.
There has to be respect for one another and their views. Another area was safety and that the view in
concept that safety is not bad but it is not good enough. He
pointed out that “We don’t act it quite the same way we say it” in regards to
safety. One can preach about safety all day but it is more than just talking
the talk NASA must walk the walk. There should
be no fear to speak up about problems. He suggested that we get leadership up
out of their offices and walking around.
This shows that they are committed to making the working environment a
better place for everyone.
What I can take away from
this exercise that that you will not know what is working or not working in
your department if you don’t ask. Right now
my director has asked each of us to put together a list of things that we feel
will increase the quality of our jobs. Though
she may not be able to give us a pay increase, she can make little changes that
will improve the overall quality of how we do our jobs from larger monitors and
more comfortable chairs to holding team building retreats to bring feel
cohesiveness to our department.
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