324: Charles Fishman - How To Create A Culture Of Learning From Failure

<p>The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk</p> <p>Full Show Notes can be found at www.LearningLeader.com</p> <p>#324: Charles Fishman</p> <p>Charles Fishman is the acclaimed author of <em>One Giant Leap</em>, <em>A Curious Mind</em> (with Brian Grazer), <em>The Wal-Mart Effect</em>, and <em>The Big Thirst</em>. He is a three-time winner of the Gerald Loeb Award, the most prestigious prize in business journalism.</p> <p>Notes: </p> <ul> <li>Leaders who sustain excellence = <ul> <li>They insist on excellence. "The work needs to be as good as it can be."</li> <li>Getting to the moon was the largest project in the history of civilization</li> <li>Clarity of the mission - Everyone must know the goal</li> <li>Must keep people motivated</li> <li>Standards must be clear - And the reasoning behind each action (intentional)</li> </ul> </li> <li>President Kennedy was frustrated with how the U.S. was doing versus the Russians in space. He needed to make a bold statement. When it was made, the administration felt there was a 50/50 shot that it could happen. <ul> <li>It was important to announce broad goal and the reason behind it</li> </ul> </li> <li>"Take the stairs" - Think of it as a blessing. "I <em>get </em>to do this." <ul> <li>Not because it is easy, but because it is hard.</li> <li>"A master stroke of leadership because it was a stretch goal, but it wasn't insanity." It must be balanced.</li> </ul> </li> <li>There are tapes of JFK talking scientific discovery where it was obvious he had little understanding of it. --&gt; It's important to have people you have confidence in leading areas where you're lacking knowledge. <ul> <li>"If JFK wasn't assassinated, we may not have gone to the moon. He was starting to get cold feet about the cost."</li> </ul> </li> <li>The space program created a culture of learning from failure: <ul> <li>"Every single failure had to be investigated, understood, and resolved."</li> <li>"No Random Failures" was the motto.</li> <li>"Every failure is a gift." -- There were 14,000 recorded failures in testing.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Collaboration -- How to keep so many people aligned? There were 400,000 people from 20,000 companies working on the Apollo missions! <ul> <li>NASA's management style: <ul> <li>Clearly defined roles - What are your solutions to the problems?</li> <li>Gave assignments and qualities that needed to be met</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li>NASA had a culture where they brought everyone together for in person meetings. "Every minute of a mission would be walked through." <ul> <li>There was transparency and decisions got made.</li> <li>Get people together in person and do something important. This built camaraderie among the dispirit teams.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Bill Tindall -- A mission planning genius on space navigation. He was also gracious, self-effacing, and had a great sense of humor. <ul> <li>Bill respected what others had done, had respect for the mission. He had the confidence to be calm. A different person who used a different manner would have been a disaster working with the leaders at MIT.</li> <li>People have to be persuaded to follow you.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Both Gene Kranz and Bill Tindall were unafraid to hear input. They were confident enough to find the right answer (wherever it came from).</li> <li>We are entering the most exciting time in space travel (Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos)</li> </ul>