The Smart Mission

1. Knowledge is social, intangible, and critical for project success

Knowledge is a profoundly social and human activity. It may be represented in a process, rule, or system, but it is basically a human activity.

Knowledge is not information. It's the ability to perform tasks, gained through experience and learning. In project-based organizations, knowledge is the primary factor of production. It's social, created and shared through interactions between people. Organizations need to identify critical knowledge, often found in teams or communities rather than individuals.

Effective knowledge governance is crucial. NASA adopted a federated model, balancing local expertise with agency-wide sharing. This approach respects diverse knowledge sources while promoting collaboration. Organizations should focus on:

• Identifying knowledge hubs or hotspots
• Developing new knowledge through innovation and problem-solving
• Retaining knowledge through embedding in processes and culture
• Transferring knowledge across the organization

2. Learning happens at individual, team, and organizational levels

Experience may possibly be the best teacher, but it is not a particularly good teacher.

Learning is uncomfortable but essential for growth and adaptation. Organizations must create environments that support learning at multiple levels:

• Individual: Building competence, capability, and confidence
• Team: Enabling project success through collaboration and shared experiences
• Organizational: Promoting sustainable performance and innovation

Effective learning strategies include:

• Leaders as teachers: Demonstrating the value of learning
• Reflective leadership: Making time for analysis and improvement
• Creating spaces for learning: Physical and virtual environments that encourage sharing
• Embracing failure: Viewing mistakes as opportunities for growth

Organizations should integrate learning into their culture, recognizing it as a competitive advantage rather than overhead.

3. Stories are powerful tools for sharing knowledge and shaping culture

Narratives are a performance-enhancing drug for empathy.

Stories stick in memory. They are 22 times more memorable than flat information with the same content. In project environments, stories offer several advantages:

• Low-cost method for sharing lessons
• Build muscles of reflective leadership
• Facilitate communal sense of meaning
• Provide clarity about priorities
• Create emotional connections

Effective use of stories in organizations:

• Start projects by telling the story of desired outcomes
• Make room for presentations as stories, not just slides
• Offer storytelling workshops to develop skills
• Experiment with different formats (oral, written, visual)
• Use stories to change organizational culture

NASA's experience shows that initial resistance to storytelling can be overcome, leading to powerful knowledge-sharing practices.

4. Organizational culture significantly impacts knowledge and project outcomes

Culture eats strategy.

Culture shapes behavior. It consists of mostly unwritten yet enduring rules that convey "how things get done around here." Three critical dimensions of culture for knowledge-intensive organizations are:

1. Collaboration
2. Valuation of knowledge
3. Trust

Fostering a knowledge-friendly culture:

• Signals and messages: Hiring and promotion practices that value knowledge-sharing
• Social infrastructure: Spaces designed for conversation and serendipitous encounters
• Valuing learning and ideas: Encouraging conference attendance, developing knowledge networks
• Shared mission and purpose: Creating a common understanding through stories and examples
• Eliminating mechanistic metaphors: Viewing the organization as a living entity that thrives on ideas

Culture change is challenging but possible with committed leadership and clear guiding principles.

5. High-performing teams balance structure with flexibility and prioritize psychological safety

A successful team picks out the 10 to 20 important things of the hundreds they could be doing. They know what's crucial to fix and what's nice to fix.

Teams are the engines of project success. High-performing teams exhibit several key characteristics:

• Clear focus on mission and outcomes
• Nourishment of team members through respect and inclusion
• Building of social capital through relationships
• Maintenance of meaning and purpose
• Cultivation of resilience
• Embrace of distributed teaming

Creating high-performing teams:

• Prioritize people: Foster appreciation and inclusion
• Promote a growth and learning mindset
• Focus on key goals and outcomes
• Create conditions for smart and safe failure
• Commit to a shared purpose
• Design for individual and collective resilience

Psychological safety is crucial, allowing team members to speak up, take risks, and learn from mistakes without fear of retribution.

6. Global collaboration requires trust, cultural understanding, and shared purpose

A 90° angle is a 90° angle.

The International Space Station (ISS) demonstrates the power of global collaboration. Key lessons from this project include:

• Invest time in establishing mutual trust and understanding
• Hire people with strong relationship skills
• Prioritize face-to-face communication for critical interactions
• Involve all stakeholders early in the process
• Build flexibility into agreements and operations
• Maintain focus on shared purpose throughout the project

Successful global collaboration requires:

• Extensive planning and negotiation
• Cultural sensitivity and adaptability
• Clear standards balanced with flexibility
• Continuous communication and relationship-building
• Shared commitment to project goals

The ISS experience shows that international cooperation on complex projects is possible and can lead to remarkable achievements.

7. Adapting to uncertainty demands new approaches to project management

Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.

Radical uncertainty is the new normal. Project professionals must adapt to a world where social, political, and economic risks are as significant as technical challenges. Key strategies for navigating uncertainty include:

• Embracing agile and adaptive approaches
• Developing strong situational awareness
• Building resilience into project teams and processes
• Fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation
• Prioritizing relationship-building across diverse stakeholders

Project managers must:

• Develop skills in scenario planning and risk management
• Cultivate networks that span organizational and national boundaries
• Balance short-term goals with long-term vision
• Embrace technology while recognizing the importance of human factors

In a world of radical uncertainty, success depends on the ability to adapt, learn, and collaborate across boundaries.

Last updated: July 18, 2024