While walking the shelves of my home library I came across a paper from Dr. Michael Griffin, (former NASA Director) in the AAS Science and Technology Series, Vol 86, 1996, "Managing the Exploration of the Moon and Mars." Here's some extracts
Introduction
- To be viable, a project must offer significant returns within a few years of inception. An endeavor requiring boarder effort, such as human exploration of space, must be structured to offer a continuing series of milestones and decision points.
- There is nothing og a technical nature which precludes a Lunar return and th initial establishment of a permanent base within five years from authorization to proceed.
- Going to Mars is a tougher problem, but not intractable even with present and near-term technology.
Management is the Key
- Maintain flat organizations and short chains of command.
- Specify outcomes, not processes
Realism and Risk and Failure
- Not reaching the goal, as opposed to incurring setbacks along the way, constitutes the only true failure
Cost, Schedule, and Technical Performance
- Technology development programs in particular are difficult to accomplish within fixed schedule and budget constraints. The appropriate guideline in this case is usually to specify the desired performance level and available funding stream, and to let the results mature as they may.
Program Management
- Executive management must define appropriate milestones and peer review points, and must be sufficiently disciplined not to interfere as long as commitments are met.
