How A Group of NASA Renegades Transformed Mission Control
Loizos Heracleous, Christina Wawarta, Steven Gonzalez, Sotirios Paroutis
MIT Sloan Management Review - April 5, 2019
MIT Sloan Management Review - April 5, 2019
"In business, we often label renegades and rebels as troublemakers — individuals who have to “get with the program” to align the organization both internally and externally. Our research at NASA, however, suggests we need renegades more than we think"
Heracleous, L., Wawarta, C., Gonzalez, S., and Paroutis, S. (2019). 'How A Group of NASA Renegades Transformed Mission Control'. MIT Sloan Management Review.
A few words on the Article
Discussing the work of the NASA 'Pirates', the article 'How a Group of NASA Renegades Transformed Mission Control' depicts the disruptive innovative impact of a group of NASA engineers led by John Muratore. In the 1980s, Muratore realized that the growing demands of Shuttle missions and the upcoming International Space Station required a more innovative system than the Apollo-era mainframe computers. For this reason, he proposed a transition to a distributed system using commercially available Unix-based personal computers, that could offer higher functionality, scalability, and real-time performance.
Urgency rose in Muratore following the Challenger disaster of 1986. Additionally, reductions to budget after Apollo required new ways of operating with ever-decreasing means. Muratore found peers among new engineers who adhered to his mission and, albeit the resistance initially faced due to the fears of opting out of a system which previously successfully managed missions to the Moon, the Pirates gained footing among the Agency and they indeed gave way to a true revolution, which ended up being supported by central figures at NASA - such as Eugene Kranz and George Abbey.
In 1992, the Shuttle control system was successfully upgraded to the innovative approach championed by the Pirates; in 1994, they received the Vice President's Hammer Award for outstanding innovations for the government, leading to huge cost savings for the Country; and, when the ISS began being assembled in 1998, the Pirates developed its Mission Control capabilities. Muratore highlighted the immense potential of open innovation and flexible practices within NASA, and the Pirates' practice has become a lesson for organizations across sectors.
Discussing the work of the NASA 'Pirates', the article 'How a Group of NASA Renegades Transformed Mission Control' depicts the disruptive innovative impact of a group of NASA engineers led by John Muratore. In the 1980s, Muratore realized that the growing demands of Shuttle missions and the upcoming International Space Station required a more innovative system than the Apollo-era mainframe computers. For this reason, he proposed a transition to a distributed system using commercially available Unix-based personal computers, that could offer higher functionality, scalability, and real-time performance.
Urgency rose in Muratore following the Challenger disaster of 1986. Additionally, reductions to budget after Apollo required new ways of operating with ever-decreasing means. Muratore found peers among new engineers who adhered to his mission and, albeit the resistance initially faced due to the fears of opting out of a system which previously successfully managed missions to the Moon, the Pirates gained footing among the Agency and they indeed gave way to a true revolution, which ended up being supported by central figures at NASA - such as Eugene Kranz and George Abbey.
In 1992, the Shuttle control system was successfully upgraded to the innovative approach championed by the Pirates; in 1994, they received the Vice President's Hammer Award for outstanding innovations for the government, leading to huge cost savings for the Country; and, when the ISS began being assembled in 1998, the Pirates developed its Mission Control capabilities. Muratore highlighted the immense potential of open innovation and flexible practices within NASA, and the Pirates' practice has become a lesson for organizations across sectors.
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