How NASA Builds Teams 1
How NASA Builds Teams 1
How NASA Builds Teams 1
BUILDS TEAMS
Mission Critical Soft Skills for Scientists,
Engineers, and Project Teams
CHARLES J. PELLERIN
How NASA Builds Teams - Page 1
MAIN IDEA
Every successful organization needs high performance teams in order to compete and succeed. Yet the technical people who often
make up these teams don’t generally respond well to the traditional “touchy-feel” style of team building activities – they’re not the kind
of people who like sitting around campfires in the middle of nowhere singing Koombiya and toasting marshmallows. If you’re trying to
build a team of scientists and engineers, a different approach is needed.
NASA recognized this problem in the early-1990s. The catalyst
for this was the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990 Intuited
with a flawed mirror. In the aftermath of this very public E
debacle, NASA formed another team to mount a space repair m C V L
mission which was ultimately highly successful. This second o o
How t Cultivating g
team used the “4-D Team Building Process” shown at right. Visioning
decisions I I
In 2001, NASA extended the 4-D System right across the get
board. As of late-2009, more than 500 NASA project and o c
made I D
engineering teams involving more than 2,700 scientists have n a
used this process. The results have been impressive with most a Including Directing l
teams moving from below-average performance levels to l
consistent above-average performance. Sensed
It makes sense to learn from NASA’s mistakes and its
successes in equal measure. Integrate the 4-D System into the How information is conveyed
way you build and manage teams.
I D
Appropriately include others 7 Avoid blaming and complaining
3
Including Directing
4 Keep all agreements 8 Clarify roles and accountability