On 28 January 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded upon take-off because an O-ring seal on the right booster rocket leaked fuel, which was ignited by the rockets. Seven astronauts died and a $1.7 billion orbiter was lost.
The shuttle was launched in the coldest weather since the program began, and NASA and Morton Thiokol engineers had already noticed that O-rings tended to leak at sub-freezing temperatures. The temperature at launch was forecasted to be between 26-29 degrees Fahrenheit. In the days leading up to the launch, some of the engineers tried to convince NASA management to delay the launch.
On 1 February 2003, the shuttle Columbia burned up on re-entry because the heat shield had been severely damaged when fuel tank insulation foam struck the orbiter during launch. After the launch, several engineers suspected damage but could not bring themselves to request expensive satellite photos of the shuttle to examine the damage and see if emergency repairs were needed. Once again, seven astronauts and an expensive orbiter were lost.
In both cases, engineers inside NASA knew in advance there was a problem. The very peril they imagined came true and people died.
One way to look at these disasters: The engineers were not influential enough.
Many folks think of influence as something they want in their work life, community activities, and personal lives. They have a legitimate, inherent need to help improve the world and to do that through affecting others’ behavior.
That’s all well and good. But what about the times when the stakes are high—lives are on the line? In these situations, you must be effective. You must influence.
You have an obligation to be influential. Influence is no longer a wish or a choice, it is an obligation.
This obligation extends not only to when lives on are on the line, but also when people will be hurt, laws will be broken, massive resources will be lost, or mission or values will be violated.
All the more reason to work on improving your influence skills so that you are able to influence when it really counts — when the stakes are the highest.
I like this article that advocates influence as an “obligation.” We usually think of influence as a skill - something special that certain folks have and others don’t.
There are more and more studies that show that all kinds of disasters (medical error, airplane crashes) occur despite someone aware of the problem. Usually, that “someone” did not feel empowered to raise a voice (against a doctor, against a pilot, etc.). Or if the voice was raised, it was not heeded. We all need to find our voice and make a stand for the things that matter.
Thanks, Jeff, for your comment. You’re right on the money. There are times (including at NASA) when voices are raised and not heeded. My question is how the voices were raised. What approach did the engineers try? Would another approach have worked better?