Navigating Transformation with Creativity and Courage
Fifty-four years ago this month – in June 1968 – the lunar module intended for use in the Apollo 8 mission was delivered to Kennedy Space Center. There was, however, a problem: upon inspection, the team at NASA discovered more than a hundred major defects. With the Apollo program already on an extremely tight timeline, the quality issues with the lunar module meant the program’s overall goal – landing a man on the moon by the end of 1969 – was now in jeopardy.
I’m no rocket scientist and couldn’t tell you the first thing about how the lunar module actually worked. But having spent my career helping organizations navigate large transformational projects, this moment of mid-project panic feels all too familiar.
Whether it’s a large technology modernization project like an ERP implementation, an organizational transformation like major operating model changes, or a strategic pivot, most “big T” Transformation projects have their fair share of ups and downs. No matter how carefully a project is planned or how talented the team may be, something almost always wrong mid-project. This leaves the team, stakeholders, and executives in a situation very much like the one NASA was facing in June 1968.
The good news is that the Apollo team successfully navigated their moment of crisis with Apollo 8 and, as we all know, achieved their ultimate goal of landing a man on the moon just one year later with Apollo 11. The even better news is that those of us involved in complex business transformation and technology modernization initiatives can learn from the Apollo team’s defining moment. We can triumph like NASA Leadership did fifty years ago, if we approach mid-project curveballs and obstacles with creativity and courage.
A Little Background on Apollo 8
Most people associate the Apollo program with Apollo 11, which famously landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, and Apollo 13, the disaster-turned-miracle depicted in the 1995 movie. These missions were the result of years of incremental design and engineering progress. In the mid-1960s, NASA laid out a seven-step plan to achieve John F. Kennedy’s bold goal of landing a human on the moon by the end of the decade. This seven-step approach started with unmanned tests of the Saturn V launch vehicle (“A” missions), a test of the uncrewed lunar module in Earth’s orbit (the “B” mission), and a crewed Earth-orbit flight (the “C” mission). Apollo 8 was intended to be the “D” mission – a crewed test of the lunar module in Earth’s orbit – before the E, F, and G missions more rigorously tested the lunar module and ultimately left Earth’s orbit and landed on the moon.
But when the lunar module arrived in June 1968 with so many defects, it was evident that the launch date for Apollo 8 (the “D” mission) would have to move back, thus delaying subsequent missions and putting in jeopardy the overall goal of landing on the moon. Rather than accepting defeat, the NASA team took a step back, assessed the problem at hand, and demonstrated incredible creativity and courage in defining a new path forward.
Creativity
At first blush, the impact of the problem-ridden lunar module was catastrophic: Apollo 8 would be delayed, subsequent missions would be pushed back even further, and the overall program would fail to meet its goal. But George Low, Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office at NASA, had a creative idea that saved the day.
Low realized that the new command and service module (CSM) would be ready early, meaning NASA could fly a CSM-only mission (no lunar module) while they worked out the bugs in the lunar module. In other words, they could re-order the missions and send a CSM to the moon and back without deploying the not-yet-ready lunar module. In parallel, they could work out the bugs in the lunar module and get it ready for the next mission. This new approach also meant that they could skip the “E” mission (medium Earth orbit), thus compressing the overall timeline and staying on track for a lunar landing by the end of 1969.
Low’s stroke of creative genius is a lesson for all of us navigating tough situations in the middle of transformational change. Rather than accepting defeat, he said, “Is there another way?” He assessed the problem at hand, looked at other relevant data (like the readiness of the CSM), and built a plan around what could be accomplished instead of what was blocked.
In large business transformation projects, there is typically no shortage of creative thinking upfront. In the early stages of project visioning and planning, executives (and of course, those pesky consultants!) say things like “totally reinventing our business” and “deploying game-changing capabilities.” They’ll talk about “the art of the possible” and “limitless possibilities.” They’ll challenge team members to think outside the box. The result is typically very positive: transformation visions built around new ways of thinking, innovative proposals for disrupting the status quo, and ideas for leveraging modern technology to solve the enterprise’s most challenging problems.
But once the team agrees to the plan and kicks off the project, the creativity seems to go out the window. After spending so much time and energy defining and aligning on “the plan” and “the solution,” teams understandably find it very difficult to unlearn the stated approach, think outside the box, and consider alternative ways of reaching the goal. This is especially true when projects encounter their inevitable “Apollo 8 moment.” Whether they’re dealing with an incomplete or unstable technology solution, a re-engineered process that doesn’t work as expected, or a re-org that’s not driving the expected outcomes, our teams typically over-index their problem analysis and solutioning based on “the plan.” But as we learn from the Apollo 8 team, often the best way to overcome these big mid-project obstacles is to rethink the plan.
Easier said than done. In our experience, there are at least three useful tactics for infusing creativity into assessing and solving a mid-project crisis.
Bring in a fresh perspective: If it’s a tech project, bring in someone from Marketing. If it’s an HR project, ask someone from Finance or Operations to take a look. Bring in a different consulting firm (if the project is big enough) to do a quick review. Heck, you can even ask your spouse or a neighbor for some input! The point is to engage someone who doesn’t have all the “baggage” of previous project planning and work. In our experience, these outsiders usually won’t solve the problem, but they can be incredibly helpful in asking questions you hadn’t thought of and bringing a new perspective to the conversation.
Identify what IS working and what IS NOT: We often fall into the trap of talking about project progress in an “all or nothing” kind of way. When we encounter major mid-project crises, it’s easy to think all is lost. But usually, if you peel back the layers of the onion, you’ll find some things that are working well despite the other challenges. Rather than dwelling on your “lunar module” (the obstacle), find your “command and service module” (the part that is working). Build a new plan around the good stuff and then plan to address the more challenging components.
Brainstorm: To be clear, we didn’t say, “have a meeting.” We said, “brainstorm.” Find a skilled facilitator to lead an effective brainstorming session focused on new, creative ideas for moving the project forward. Include a mix of subject matter experts, generalists with some exposure to the project, and – as mentioned above – a few “outsiders” if you can. Start with some individual brainstorming exercises (to prevent groupthink) and then bring the group together for a collaborative brainstorm designed to identify innovative ideas for solving the problem at hand.
Courage
But coming up with a creative idea is only half the battle. Then you must sell the idea and convince leaders to courageously embrace a new idea. Based on how these projects start, you’d think courageous and bold decision-making would be abundant.
But it’s not quite that simple.
When large transformation projects are just getting started, there’s no shortage of courage and confidence. Executives roll their eyes when you cite the jarring statistic that 3 out of 4 transformation projects fail. “That would never happen here! We have the best team.” Technologists pitch bleeding edge tech solutions, even though they’re not proven, because “we have a brilliant IT team – we can do this.” And again, those pesky consultants (guilty as charged) sometimes paint an overly rosy picture of how easy the project may be, leading to a level of borderline hubris. Ultimately, after extensive planning, the collective team will develop a bold vision, pitch it to the Board, get alignment from all involved, and toast to the future.
The minute the project kicks off, something weird happens. All the courageous risk-taking disappears. The confidence in the team’s ability to executive goes missing. Risk tolerance goes to zero. And decisions are made based on self-preservation and a fear of screwing up.
It’s understandable. As highlighted above, 3 out of 4 major transformation projects fail, and most leaders of large initiatives lose sleep at night thinking about all the ways they could end up on the wrong side of that statistic.
And so when it comes time to make a tool selection, they’re more likely to choose the “low-risk” big name in the market. When choosing between a seemingly less difficult “lift-and-shift” of the old data warehouse versus the development of a modern data architecture, they’ll choose the former. And when they’re running out of time to get all the features tested, they’ll start punting features to “Phase 2” so they can still hit their Go-Live date. It’s not just “them” – it’s “us” (the consultants), too. Clients often judge the effectiveness of their consulting partner by on-time, on-budget metrics instead of long-term results. This pressure makes it easy for consultants to fall into the trap of providing guidance mid-project based more on risk aversion than long-term vision.
While risk and budget management are critical elements of project leadership – and of course, we all want to keep our projects on time and on budget – those tendencies must be counter-balanced by courageous decision-making and calculated risk-taking. Otherwise, your “transformational” program will result in only incremental change, and your vision and value prop will fall short.
Here again, we can learn from the Apollo team. Put yourself in that room with the Apollo team as they evaluated Low’s idea. I imagine the conversation went something like this:
Person 1 (George Low): “Let’s just go to the Moon even though the lunar module doesn’t work.”
Person 2: “Are you crazy?!”
Person 3: “That’s not the plan! We spent so much time developing the plan. We have to stick to the plan.”
Person 4: “It’s way too dangerous. If something goes wrong, we’ll all get blamed. It’s not worth it.”
Talk about a tough decision requiring some courage!
And beyond getting the team aligned on the big leap, there was someone else who had to be convinced. Historical accounts of this decision-making show that the toughest person to persuade was the boss: James E. Webb, NASA Administrator. We can totally relate. Would you want to be the boss who approved such a crazy decision, especially if it didn’t work?
But Webb did come around to the idea. And the rest, as they say, is history. Apollo 8 went off without a hitch, orbiting the moon over the Christmas holidays in 1968 and setting the stage for the subsequent missions in 1969 that landed Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon.
For those of us leading major transformation programs, the lesson here is clear: even in the darkest moment of the project, we shouldn’t shy away from making courageous decisions and taking calculated risks.
Concluding Thoughts
The next time you find yourself in a “Code Red” project status meeting, think back to the lessons of Apollo 8 and encourage your team to approach the problem with intentional creativity and measured courage. If you play your cards right, you’ll adeptly navigate the challenges at hand and reach your bold goal.
If you want to learn more about FlexPoint Consulting's services and capabilities or seek our advice in navigating your own Apollo 8 moment, reach out to us at info@flexpointconsulting.com.