hi friends. i received this recently and thought i'd share it. an example of the danger involved when we fail to create space for dissenting opinions.
john engle Evergreen Leaders Update #23 October 16, 2003 ****************************************************************************** Subscriptions are free. You may forward or reprint this freely for your friends and colleagues. ****************************************************************************** Brutal reality After the shuttle Colombia was launched last January several engineers in the lower levels of NASA suspected that the shuttle had been badly damaged by a piece of foam during lift off. But they couldnt be sure because bits of foam had broken off during other launches without severely damaging the other shuttles. They didnt think they could get a damage assessment through NASAs leadership channels so they went backdoor to ask the Department of Defense to use their satellite or ground cameras to look for damage on the shuttles left wing. Defense agreed with the request but before they could complete the task one of NASAs leaders discovered the engineers request and cancelled it without fully understanding the fears that led the engineers to make the backdoor request. No one knew the foam, when it hit the left wing at 500 mph, had knocked a hole in the membrane. During the re-entry the hole grew, destroying the shuttle, and killing all seven astronauts. During the subsequent investigation an investigator asked the leader who had cancelled the engineers request to the Department of Defense, As a manager, how do you seek out dissenting opinions? According to him she answered, Well, when I hear about them But Linda, what techniques do you use to get them? According to an Atlantic Monthly article by William Langewiesche*the manager had no answer. Its human nature not to want to hear bad news... (the newsletter goes on - to receive the entire newsletter or subscribe, contact richf...@plowcreek.org) _________________________________________________________________ MSN Search, le moteur de recherche qui pense comme vous ! http://search.msn.fr/worldwide.asp * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu, Visit: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
