AProjectManagersLessonsLearned-NASA.pdfVIP

A Project Managers Lessons Learned Jerry Madden Associate Director (400) None of these are original--Its just that we dont know where they were stolen from! 1. There is no such thing as previously-flown hardware, i.e., the people who build the next unit probably never saw the previous unit; there are probably minor changes; the operational environment has probably changed; and the people who check the unit out will in most cases not understand the unit or the test equipment. 2. Most equipment works as built, i.e., not as the designer planned. This is due to layout of the design, poor understanding on the designers part, or poor understanding of component specifications. 3. The source of most problems is people but damned if they will admit it. Know the people working on your project, so you know what the real weak spots are. 4. Most managers succeed on the strength and skill of their staff. 5. A manager who is his own systems engineer or financial manager is one who will probably try to do open heart surgery on himself. 6. One must pay attention to workaholics--if they get going in the wrong direction, they can do a lot of damage in a short time -- it is possible to overload them, causing premature burnout, but hard to determine if the load is too much, since much of it is self-generated. It is important to make sure such people take enough time off and that the workload does not exceed 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 times what is normal. 7. NASA programs compete for budget funds--they do not compete with each other, i.e., you never attack any other program or NASA work with the idea you should get their funding. Sell what you have on its own merit. 8. Contractors respond well to the customer who pays attention to what they are doing, but no