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Personnel News

New Management Document in Use at NASA

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
October 8, 2006

NASA Strategic Management Council Meeting Minutes and Actions
Date: 17 March 2006 Time: 8:00 AM 2:00 PM (EST)
Location: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Building 1, Rooms E100 D&E

“SMC Action: Michael Wholley, General Counsel, offered to provide members with some guidance on management responsibility in ensuring open communication without fear of retribution.

Michael Coats, Director of the Johnson Space Center, presented Griffin with The Complete Idiot’s Guide to NASA by former astronaut Thomas Jones.”


Second Item of Business: Agency Strategy Discussion: Administrator Griffin led the members in a discussion of several issues:- Communications: Communication between centers and headquarters remains a problem, as seen in the handling of the Dawn mission cancellation. He urged members to communicate and use the Agency governance structure to address issues before they emerge as an 11th hour crisis. He directed members when informing him of something that will become public to include Deputy Administrator Shana Dale, Associate Administrator Rex Geveden, and Chief of Staff Paul Morrell.

– Harassment and retribution: Griffin stated that he receives numerous reports of mid-level managers threatening NASA staff members if they offer opinions that differ from those of their management. Griffin asked council members to inform all NASA employees that they may raise issues without fearing retribution as such behavior will not be tolerated at NASA. He urged members to investigate situations where supervisors are being accused of stifling full and open communication and take action as appropriate. He wants NASA to be an organization where even the shy and retiring can come forward with a disagreement without fearing punishment.

– NASA Strategy: Griffin encourages members to read Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Marburger’s keynote speech from the 44th Robert H. Goddard Memorial Symposium, held March 15th in Greenbelt, Maryland. Cited as an excellent summary view of the Administration position on the role of Exploration and Science as priorities within the Federal budget, the speech text can be found online at http://www.ostp.gov/html/jhmGoddardSymp03-15-06Release.pdf, and is included in the council meeting presentation file for this meeting at https://nx.arc.nasa.gov/nx/dsweb/View/Collection-38008.

Griffin underscored that returning to the Moon is a part of NASA’s exploration strategy and urged members and their organizations to get onboard. The strategy was presented by Griffin in his confirmation hearing, vetted by the White House, and now is captured in the 2005 NASA Authorization Act. Griffin stated that the leadership team he has put in place is the one that can carry out that strategy even after he has left the Agencythe team is his legacy. And he expects his leaders to select their management teams using the same criterion: technically competent people able to fulfill the Agency’s exploration goals.

Griffin acknowledged the Agency’s long standing role in doing pure science, and the need to do it competently and well. He described NASA’s strategy as “exploration driven and science enabling,” and expects support from the NASA science organizations.

SMC Action: Michael Wholley, General Counsel, offered to provide members with some guidance on management responsibility in ensuring open communication without fear of retribution.

Michael Coats, Director of the Johnson Space Center, presented Griffin with The Complete Idiot’s Guide to NASA by former astronaut Thomas Jones.

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.