Hello. My name is Garret and I’m a NASA engineer.
–Hiiiii Garret. Nice to meet you!
Nice to meet everyone, too. And thanks for letting me come here. I guess I came to this week’s Spaceaholics Anonymous meeting because I have a confession… but I just… I don’t know how to say it.
–Its ok, Garret. That’s why we’re here. We’re all friends. Please, go ahead.
Ok, here goes. Promise you won’t think differently of me. The truth is, I love NASA…
– So do we! That’s nothing to be ashamed of!
No, you don’t understand. I love NASA. But, well… I’m losing faith. I don’t know… if I still believe in NASA anymore.
The thing is, I’m questioning it all, this whole space exploration thing. It seems that everyone I meet knows nothing of what NASA is doing. More importantly, they don’t know why NASA is doing whatever it is NASA does, either.
– Well, as long as you believe in what NASA stands for, it doesn’t matter, right? Everyone can’t be expected to understand that exploring space is important to our future.
That’s the problem, though. Why go through all the trouble here if no one cares or understands, really? Sure, going back to the moon is an important step towards opening up the frontier of space for mankind, but if I am questioning what the relevance of it is (and I’m the kid who went to Space Camp and still hasn’t let go of that childhood dream of being an astronaut one day), what does that say about everybody else? This noble endeavor of exploring the unknown and inspiring the world’s dreamers and extending humanity’s reaches into the cosmos will be barely an afterthought, lost among the overwhelming magnitude of the great Earthly problems which touch so much closer to home in this increasingly self-centered, instant-gratification-seeking society.
– But people will care. They cared before when we went to the moon and they will care again. Don’t lose faith. We just have to explain it to them better.
See, this is what I was afraid of. The world is changing. People no longer want to be told why they should or should not believe in something. They want to be a part of the process, the discussion. They want to participate. They don’t trust big organizations with a spokeperson in front of a podium talking about discovery and innovation and inspiration. That doesn’t cut it anymore. This generation is young and sharp and hungry. They’ve grown up spoiled but they are passionate. They are impatient but they are highly adaptable. They want things now—no, not in five minutes, right NOW—but they want to believe in something. They are connected to friends, events, information, global causes—everything—in ways and magnitudes that humanity has never seen before. The fact they are connected opens them up to being susceptible to manipulation but they are so fast to bend and change that just when you think you’ve manipulated them, they’re on to something new, something different. Just for the sake of something being different. Because ‘new and different’ is exciting and ‘old and traditional’ is slow, boring, and worse: irrelevant.
So why am I concerned? Because if space exploration is as important as I want to believe it is, then everybody should have a say in it. Because what we’re doing is for everybody. It isn’t for a few hundred people who are and will be the astronauts and it isn’t for the several thousand people who will actually make it happen, it is for everybody. We are exploring to create a better future for everyone on the planet and our fundamental belief is that exploring space is a worthy means for doing that.
– Ok, ok. Calm down. Breathe. You’re getting yourself worked up a bit. You think people should be involved, but how do you go about doing that?
I don’t have the answer. But asking the question is a good first step. Asking the questions may just be the answer in itself. What I propose is something I’m calling “The Flat NASA Experiment”.
Let’s start talking.
February 17th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
At least for me “being involved” means that at the end of the day its about people like me going into space on a regular basis. Very few people are interesting in helping NASA send a few government employees…
“Exploration is an action, not a reason.” Help answer the question of why we are “exploring” and collaboration will happen naturally. IMHO…
February 18th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Garret! That’s a great dialogue! You should start your own column. And find a really good cartoonist.
If it’s instant gratification that’s needed, then there needs to be an instant tactility to it, which means that young engineers and scientists work on projects that sends stuff up, but also extract all learned knowledge and wisdom from the past NASA generation. That knowledge transfer is also key to this generation’s participation. However, we and the powers-to-be need to call NASA into action, into being the leader of innovation, hope and human ingenuity prowess that it once was. And it take several communities from the inside and out to make this all happen.
February 19th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Of course remembering NASA’s mission is imperative to understanding how we can participate in the active programs. The goal of the National Space Act, as taken from NASAs website, is to “provide for research into problems of flight within and outside the earth’s atmosphere, and for other purposes.”
The aeronautical and space activities of the United States shall be conducted so as to contribute materially to one or more of the following objectives:
- The expansion of human knowledge of phenomena in the atmosphere and space;
- The improvement of the usefulness, performance, speed, safety, and efficiency of aeronautical and space vehicles;
- The development and operation of vehicles capable of carrying instruments, equipment, supplies and living organisms through space;
- The establishment of long-range studies of the potential benefits to be gained from, the opportunities for, and the problems involved in the utilization of aeronautical and space activities for peaceful and scientific purposes.
The preservation of the role of the United States as a leader in aeronautical and space science and technology and in the application thereof to the conduct of peaceful activities within and outside the atmosphere.”
Though a mouthful, this states clearly what NASA’s objectives and goals are which by no mean indicates a goal of providing access to space for individual entertainment. The closest segment of this statement is the development and operation of as well as the improvement of space vehicles which “may” carry living organisms.
This fine point is expressed because I believe participation and “being involved” means that we have access to and an avenue for aiding the agency in it’s mission rather than participating for our benefit. Of course, the availability of personal access to space may be a by-product but by no means is the primary objective of participation unless our direct performance in space enables the success of NASA’s mission.
February 25th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I was just forwarded the presentation that you guys created, Generation Y perspective. I must say that the information in the powerpoint was right on target! Being apart of generation Y, myself, I found it to be very thought provoking and relative. I work at NASA, KSC, as a contractor (Mech Engineer/ Reliability Engineering), and I am currently completing my PHD in Leadership and Education. I, too, am inspired by the events that take place at NASA. To be apart of an organization that holds so much hope and education towards our future is incredible, to say the least. I think NASA has an opportunity today that it did not have yesterday. Generation Y seeks the truth and will circumvent the Media if they can not find it there, so they use other medians as their source of information. Yesterday, NASA largely relied on educating their audience primarily through the media outlets, and today, even if the Media down plays our goals and objective-which we know they do, we can still make an impact on this generation through “grass root” movements: blogs, forwarded email, chain letters, and even by the pool of generation Yers who works at NASA. A grassroots movement can be as simple as sending pictures of the shuttle launch or landing to others in their generation who are more willing to forward it to others, who will presumably forwarded it to others… and so on and so on. I am truly inspired by your power point and would love to contribute to this “movement.” There it goes again, that word movement. Our generation seems to like to mobilize behind a perceived good! And guess what, I plead guilty as charge because I am one of them. lol!
February 28th, 2008 at 4:47 am
Eddy - thanks for the comment! We’d love to include you in this… “movement”
There are some great people at KSC we need to put you in touch with. Problem is, I have no idea who you are because there is no last name on your post. Could you email me and then I’ll help you out!? Thanks.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:02 am
Hey Nick -
I saw a blog post about your Gen-Y presentation to NASA and I think you’re right on the money. I run the Green Film Company, a New York based film production/finance company. We’ve started a fund to produce content that focuses subjects affecting the world community - energy and resource depletion, economic and social justice, innovation and discovery.
i want to talk to you about producing a feature documentary, tv or web series about young people at NASA. Seems like it could be a good way to connect our generation to the work your doing.
Let me know if you’re interested -
February 28th, 2008 at 7:17 am
So y’all wanted a .nasa.gov home for this kind of discussion? Ask and ye shall receive.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I think this is more of what we were hoping the nasa.gov website itself would look like. It should be less of a press-release repository and more of a transparent, communication and knowledge transfer facilitating tool that we - NASA employee’s - can use to help share the compelling story, the innovation, and the exciting work that we are doing within the agency.
February 28th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
When I hear “flat NASA” I think of organizational flatness as well as transparency to people outside the organization. Google seems to have this ‘flatness’ where all of the employees are empowered to innovate, collaborate, and discuss projects.
When employees spend too much time looking for management approval (aka CYA “cover your assets”)for everything they do, it slows down every process to a crawl and kills creativity. Can you imagine if the people that proposed GMail or AdWords were as worried about management ‘reaction’ as the creators of this site? Fear suffocates innovation.
I want to see flat management structures and employee empowerment as a core component of a transformed, open NASA. An organization that is not transparent nor accessible to itself will never be transparent or accessible by the public.
February 28th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Hello everyone, I just happened to stumble upon this website after being linked to the Powerpoint presentation that you guys have created. I just started at NASA Marshall a little less than a year ago as an engineer on the Ares project and I couldn’t agree more with the message that you are trying to get across. It provides such a level of motivation that I really think the younger generation of NASA employees could use. Even though I haven’t been working at NASA all too long, there have been plenty of times where friends or relatives get the impression that NASA is full of old men with pocket protectors and bow-ties, even to the point where many think it is essentially an organization that is living in the past. There is only so much that each individual can say- but as a “movement” as Eddy said above, we can really make a difference in how NASA is perceived by the general public. I’m not sure how much I could do but I would really like to contribute to what you guys are doing. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.
February 28th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Tim, that really is an excellent point: “An organization that is not transparent nor accessible to itself will never be transparent or accessible by the public.”
NASA has been searching for specific outreach TACTICS to try to solve its disconnect with the public (and its own sense of relevancy for that matter)… I think one of the main points in solving that disconnect is that there isn’t one or two specific tactics to do so. What’s needed is a revamped STRATEGY that will incorporate flatness, transparency, accessibility and an open facilitation of a discussion INTERNALLY as well as externally to get us there. What does that look like? I don’t think anybody really knows that for sure… But, we (everybody- NASA, space industry, even the “public” in the broadest terms) are working on it!
February 29th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Like others above me, I just got ahold of your presentation and was impressed. I am (According to the presentation anyway) a Gen-Xer having been born in 75. I work on the Orion program at KSC in the O&C building. I gotta say I share almost all of your views about transparency, and lack of communication in general. But, i had to laugh… NASA goes “Back To Macs”? Where did that come from? If anything, I would propose moving everyone to a beginners linux like Ubuntu. Save some money, (A lot of money), and break the microsoft deathgrip. Anyway, We need to do something to get NASA back on track, and you guys are the first ones I have seen make a real attempt. Congrats on getting your presentation all the way to Griffin!
RAD
February 29th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I just read the slides a third time. Excellent presentation, but if you’re into Macs shouldn’t you be using Keynote?
I am a tail end Boomer and I’m curious how a Gen Y’er can transform a short attention span and instant gratification into something that may take a lifetime to develop. How do you stick with a lifetime goal or even something that may take several years to accomplish? Or how do get the next Hubble up tomorrow so you don’t become bored with it while you wait for the count down? I’m asking because I’m curious; not to cut down Gen Y. The world has many large scale problems that need attention span with likely very little gratification along the way. Just curious.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
@Rory - the “back to macs” headline was half serious, half not. Ideally, end users who use generic items like email, document processing, spreadsheets, etc would be give a “choice”. If you are more comfortable with a mac - use a mac. If you like PC’s - use a PC. I know this isn’t a new issue and has been argued to death agency wide and at the centers - but the underlying theme here is that we tend to pigeon hole ourselves into one technology - then quickly fall behind as innovation occurs in industry. Giving employees options to use the technology they are most familiar with to both a) communicate and b) do their jobs, would do a lot to change the culture.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Nick & Garrett,
This is a super interesting conversation that you are starting here, what’s even better is the conversations that you are starting within NASA. It’s nice to have the Gen Y opinion legitimized.
I’ve heard your presentation mentioned dozens of times since it was presented to Public Outreach in January. Amazingly, it seems like people are listening. There has been talk about creating Gen Y leadership councils at each center to help with outreach and messaging and already we have started thinking about exhibit and publication development that targets our generation.
So thanks for starting this and we’ll keep you posted on how NASA Langley furthers the ‘Flat NASA’ experiment and comes up with answers for the Gen Y question.
February 29th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Bill,
You do it by including people in the processes that lead up to it too. Getting something like Hubble up there involves large numbers of small victories that people would love to participate in. At Masten Space we have a good following of people who read our blog and celebrate right along with us when we have a successful engine test or are disappointed with us when we crash.
Looked at another way: if American Idol was all about just picking that one singer it would be one boring awards show for one hour, once a season. But the show is successful because it pulls you along (painfully sometimes) incrementally. You live through each sadness and success right along with the group. You get invested in it. And that makes the awards show that much more rewarding for the audience.
Open up the kimono ENTIRELY. Beginning to end. Successes and failures. Emotions and the boring stuff. The personal and the technical. That’s participation.
Oh yea, and we all want to fly too! Damnit!
March 18th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Bill,
Thanks for your input and I must say that if we were to superficially look at Generation Y at a distance, the appearance will be a lot different then the reality. Generation Y is not a generation that is lazy, incoherent, or unable to sustain long term goals. Generation Y, in my perspective, is a generation that is willing to look for new alternatives, new process, and even new positions when impedances are present that can not be overcome through logical discussion and analysis. They are more willing to sacrifice financial gain to fulfill their intrinsic rewards. Does this mean Generation Y does not have the heart for long term projects? No, not at all. Actually the opposite, Generation Y can sustain long term projects and continue to with a fresh approach. This generation, as shown in the presentation, grew up in diversity so they are more willing to focus on the project at hand instead of the physical differences that exist amongst their peers which is a influencing factor in the political landscape of many organizations. Assembly, it exists because the past generations dealt with that struggle, and I believe we can all attest that it is still prevalent in the organizational culture of those generations.