Farewell NASA: The Circular CIO

When I was aschool-aged math student, I always held a special fascination for circles.  I loved trigonometric functions and wouldplay with identities just for sport.  So,here I am now, a more “seasoned” girl and I find myself thinking again about mylove for circles. 

First, let’sdefine a circle.  It is a set of pointson a plane equidistant from another particular point which is its center.  It has no beginning and no end.  It just goes around, and around, and around –from beginning to end to beginning again. 

And here Iam at the end.

Again, atthe beginning.

I’m leavingNASA.  Retiring actually.  Well, kinda. Ending my Federal NASA career and starting a new post civil servantadventure. 

Way back inMay of 1980, I started a nearly 34-year professional career at NASA at GoddardSpace Flight Center.  I was a GS-7 1520Mathematician.  I was in the professionalinternship program (PIP) and had to have great grades to get in and do greatthings to get promoted.  I met anotherGS-7 1520 Mathematician – a shy young girl named Stephanie Gayle Henry who endedup being a BFF for life.  I was a systemsprogrammer on the IBM 360/95 working in Code 500 for Jack Balikirsky.  IBM Assembler Language was fun.  Not for wimps, for sure.

But I leftNASA.  Got married (the first time), to aguy who wanted to move to Seattle.  Twenty-fiveyears, 4 additional Federal agencies, and stint at Boeing Computer Services…later, I divorced and came back to an agency I never wanted to leave.  I came full circle.  Now, I am leaving again – at the end of thecircle.  Again.

As I beginand end, I want to mention a few great NASA leaders that I had the pleasure ofserving under this time.  They all havesomething in common – they are tough … some perhaps in some cases rather mean. 

 I willmention them in pairs, which are almost as good as circles.

Ed Weilerand Rob Strain.  They were pretty toughand mean.  On the surface, they werequite different – in stature and in academic background.  But, at the end of the day, Ed was a thugfrom the South Side of Chicago shaped by the hope and despair that surroundedhim;  and Rob was a thug form Flint,shaped by the hard work and long hours of the tireless men and women in theauto industry.  Both men are tirelessleaders whose love of space made NASA a better place.  One focused his telescope on heavenly bodieslight years away and the other focused his on Earth objects and businesssystems that just kept things running. Thanks Ed and Rob.

Lori Garverand Charlie Bolden.  Pretty tough andmean – well, maybe some think Charlie isn’t mean – but he is a Marine.  Get it. Hoorah.  So, Charlie is anastronaut and Lori is a policy wonk. Yet, this Odd Couple often accused of not getting along have the mostawesome thing in common.  Greatleadership and love of EVERYTHING space. Thanks Lori and Charlie. 

A quickpersonal story.  My husband’s first wifewasn’t especially fond of me.  And Istayed clear of her.  Then our mutuallove, her grandson, broke his foot and was in severe pain.  We were both in the orthopedic surgeon’soffice crying – because this little boy we both loved was in a bad way.  We loved the same thing.  Therefore, we loved each other – the associativeproperty of love.  That’s the real Lori and Charlie. 

So, I’m atthe end again.  Really at thebeginning.  What am I doing next?  Just Google that.  But, I sign off on my last NASA CIO blogsaying that I am leaving and agency I love to start a new beginning again. 

NASA, thanksfor being at my center.  Cureton Out.

LindaCureton, NASA CIO

The End

 

NASA on Google Plus

 Guest Blogger: Deborah Diaz, Deputy CIO of NASA

 

Our world population has doubled in the past 50 years.  We had three billion in 1959, four billion in 1974, five billion in 1987 and six billion in 1998.  A little over one week ago, the human population on planet Earth reached seven billion. This marks an important milestone for our species. Fifty years ago, shortly before John F. Kennedy issued his challenge to reach the moon, we had just crossed the three billion mark. This expansion is a testament to our ability to produce, grow, and connect. Perhaps the most important innovation tying us together since then has been the advent of the public Internet. As we’ve grown and become more dispersed over the planet, the Internet has allowed us to instantaneously connect and communicate in new and exciting ways.


Although we may still see the Internet largely as a productivity tool, or as a way to access information, it’s become so much more than that. It’s a collaboration platform that is bringing us together.  With the acceleration of digital convergence and increasingly pervasive use of digital devices to access all manner of information, the Internet has become a platform for participation.  Each second, the world’s information is increasingly sorted, sifted, and combined in various useful and creative ways by communities of people from all corners of the world.  Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and now Google+ are reshaping human interactions and helping us connect to one another.  

As an agency trusted with charting the universe and expanding human knowledge, NASA has long been at the forefront of using the Internet to communicate with and involve citizens in our mission of space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research. NASA had one of the first websites on the Internet in the 90s, obtained one of the first accounts on Twitter in 2007, and began Tweeting in late 2008.  We have now launched our NASA presence on Google+ as the first government agency on the platform.

This is an exciting step for NASA and we have already seen enormous interest from the Google+ community – we had over a thousand new followers in the first hour!  We look forward to exploring this new engagement platform and innovating how NASA shares information.  

 

Deborah Diaz

NASA Deputy Chief Information Officer

 

My Information Technology Ministry

I recently became the Co-chair of the Federal CIO Council’s Architecture and Infrastructure Committee.  Though I’m new to the gig, I can see similarities between this role and leadership roles I’ve had at church.   Sure, some enterprise architects are zealots about what they do and what they believe in, but the real similarity comes in leading volunteers when you have no direct control or authority over them.  For this reason, when people ask me what’s the best way to get experience as a CIO, I always suggest that they volunteer for leadership in the Information Technology programs at their church or community. 

 

The true mark of successful leadership shows when people are able to gain followers over whom they have no leverage.  CIOs often find themselves responsible and accountable for things over which they have no control.  This is why there is often so much talk about what CIOs have “control” over.  But, this isn’t unusual in technical and professional jobs.  John Kotter confirms in Power and Influence that:

 

“Most of the power gap one finds in professional and technical jobs is associated with relationships outside the formal chain of command.”

 

The skills that one acquires to get results outside of their direct authority or chain of command are critical for getting desired business outcomes.  John C. Maxwell in his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You, he advises CEO’s to look for the best leaders in those that have successfully led volunteer organizations for at least six months.  He tells us that:

 

Followers in voluntary organizations cannot be forced to get on board. If the leader has no influence with them, then they won’t follow

 

While serving in my church’s IT Ministry, I found that if you can get a bunch of set-in-their-ways Baptist deacons and trustees to migrate to a new church membership system, you can implement an enterprise resource planning system.  In this case, I had to convince them that it would be Divine Will that we upgrade to a more modern system else we burn in the eternal hell of non-Y2K compliance.  It worked and we modernized our old church membership system. 

 

Another similar aspect is the need for a Ten Commandments or enterprise architecture.  The importance of enterprise architecture is that in its most useful form, it defines a clear, unambiguous set of principles that guide IT decisions in an organization.  Architecture you can use is not reams and volumes of useless dogma.  It looks something like this:

 

·         Thou shall consider cloud computing solutions first before buying a dedicated infrastructure for your application.

·         Thou shall not bare false witness to other IT investments and demonstrate value producing desired outcomes consistent with your business case else you risk termination and eternal damnation.

·         Thou shall run securely and not make wrongful use of any data entrusted to you so that thy days may be long.

 

And finally, people want to have hope for tomorrow and vision for a better future. My grandmother used to say that everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.  That means that we often want benefits without making a commensurate sacrifice.  In IT speak, that means we want to reduce the cost of what we spend on IT, but we don’t want to sacrifice value of the services and capabilities we get.  But in order to get to IT heaven, we need to die to duplicative infrastructures and “one-off” spending and believe in economies of scale and shared services. 

 

Of course an enterprise resource planning system is much more complex than a church membership product and an agency Web portal has more multifaceted considerations compared to a homeowner’s association newsletter, but the foundational leadership skills are the same.   These skills allow leaders to bring people together over whom they have no authority and align them along a common set of principles or beliefs by building a sense of community.  Leaders at all levels have to have these capabilities in order to turn vision, hope, and dreams into reality. 

 

Linda Cureton, NASA CIO

The Leadership of the Horse Holder

We can learna lot about leadership from horse holders.   They show us the importance of leading frombehind.  Many associate leadershipsuccess with fame, fortune recognition, and scores of admiring followers.  But, we need to remember the inspirationalinstruction from these vital leaders who are often alone and nearlyundetectable. 

Horseholders perform essential duties in a battlefield.  During combat, the noise from cannons andguns would spook the hoofed infantry causing them to run away from their ridersto safety.  These loyal horsemen wouldstand in the rear dutifully clutching the reins preserving this most valuablebattle commodity. 

Leading frombehind describes a leadership style that puts others first.  It understands the value of nurturing andtaking care of followers.  Itaccomplishes much while taking credit for very little.  These leaders are dependable, trustworthy,and extremely competent.  They performlike the quarterback who throws the winning touchdown pass but acts like acheerleader encouraging and praising the victorious receiver. 

The poem The General’s Mount: a Poem on GeneralForrest’s Horse describes a civil war general’s horse and in it we see thehorse holder’s bittersweet perspective of service and duty:

 


Stunned and trembling

From the shock andpain.

Jaded. Limping to theholders in the rear.


No bugles and nodrumbeats here,

Only fading soundsacross the field.

THE HOLDERS slipped thebridle


From his lowered head,

Wiped the sweat marks fromhis cheeks and neck.

Bathed the blood-redfoam from mouth and nostrils,

Sponged his wounds,


Applied a stingingointment.

They washed his knees andhocks and pasterns.

 

Ancient philosopherLao Tzu describes them as the besttype of leader who people do not notice and “… When the best leader’s work isdone, the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!’ To lead the people, walk behindthem.” Maybe what the world and the workplace need now are more horse holders –these unsung heroes who are critical in every victorious battle and standing inthe rear. 

 

Linda Y.Cureton, NASA CIO

Alyssa Reflects on Shuttle's Legacy


Guest Blogger:  Miss Alyssa Y. Watson

 Alyssa is a rising 6thgrader from Wilton Elementary School in Creedmoor, NC.  Mr. James Stranix was her scienceteacher.  She will be attending G.C.Hawley Middle School in Creedmoor, NC.  in a few weeks.

During the summer, Alyssa’sparents ask her to read newspaper articles and write reports.  Alyssa provides her reflections below on the NewYork Times article TheShuttle Ends Its Final Voyage and an Era in Space.

We had agreat run with great memories and accomplishments, we achieved theunthinkable.  We built the 1st shuttle and we built the last, we have donewhat people thought would never happen.  Rest in Peace to the people whoaren’t alive to see it, God Bless the ones who were. 

For thosewho saw the last shuttle go into space saw our legacy, saw what we worked sohard to achieve.  They saw the shuttles that prevailed and the ones thatdidn’t have as much luck.  They witnessed Neil Armstrong land on the moonand when he stepped onto that huge rock that changes our planet so much he saidthe famous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap formankind.” and he was right.  That gave us hope, which gave us dreams,which started our story of how we entered the wonderful world of Space! We will never forget those words and we will never forget the brave people whodied trying to get to the place we all want to go, space, the finalfrontier. 

Our legacyhas ended exactly where it started, at the Kennedy Space Center, in greatgratitude to John F. Kennedy for putting us in Space.  We now have evenmore experience than before; we can do more things now that we understand moreabout the wonderful galaxies yet to come.  But we will never fullyexperience the depth and the mystery many of the other universes have to offer

IT Reform at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

 Note from Linda Cureton:

 I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the goals of President Obama’s administration as it relates to improving how IT is managed in the Federal Government.  We support the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 25 Point Plan with many activities from NASA’s stellar IT program.   I also volunteered to Co-Chair the Architecture and Infrastructure Committee with Michael Carleton, the CIO from the Department of Health and Human Services focusing government-wide activities by supporting the creation of practical architectures. 

 Along with all of our CIOs, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center CIO, Adrian Gardner is also answering the call. 

 Today’s NASA CIO Blog is written by guest blogger John Hopkins, Chief of Staff in the NASA’s Office of the Chief Information Officer

I remember in high School one of the coaches used to tell us that when the going got tough, the tough got going. The CIO Council has certainly got going early and with vigor to undertake a reshaping of the Federal IT environment which is indeed tough going. The undertaking is sometimes daunting. I can almost hear Calvin and Hobbs cartoonist Bill Watterson saying his favorite quote, “God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die.”

The truth is that the “To-Be” vision of the Federal IT environment in our minds-eye is actually similar from one agency to another. No matter how hard the going gets, it is critical that we have a plan to get there. OMB’s 25-Point Plan and the TechStat reviews make participation a ‘no-brainer’. The activities in the plan and the TechStat reviews help propel us toward our goal of a more efficient and effective IT enterprise.  

NASA was an early adopter of a key element in the plan, the “cloud-first” approach. NASA became one of the first federal agencies to have a Cloud implementation. Tuesday, September 15, 2009, Vivek Kundra, the Federal Chief Information Officer, toured the NASA Nebula Container and the Security Operations Center (SOC) at NASA Ames Research Center in California.  He commented on the NASA Nebula Cloud project as he announced the launch of the Apps.gov platform, an online storefront for Federal agencies to browse and purchase cloud-based information technology (IT) services at a significantly lower cost to the Government. Nebula now serves dozens of customers with centralized services. In addition, NASA has expanded cloud availability with a second instance at Goddard Space Center in Maryland, and is actively adding new customers.  This “Cloud-First” philosophy is central to our department’s strategic plan.    

NASA held their first Tech Stat session on March 24, 2011 for the Integrated Collaborative Environment (ICE), a program that provides a common repository for authoritative data from the Exploration System Mission Directorate (ESMD). ICE is a web-centric environment designed for use by industry, academia and government for sharing, collaborating, integrating, NASA conducting a tech stat reviewaccessing and controlling management information and product data definitions for all ESMD products.

The key outcomes included requirements to develop performance metrics, consolidate applications.  It also included a discussion of investment opportunities, lifecycle costs, and customer usability. The next TechStat will review the Enterprise Service Desk (ESD), a major component of NASA’s IT Infrastructure Integration Program (I3P) which is designed to transform NASA’s IT Infrastructure services from a Center-based model to an enterprise-based management and provisioning model.  The scope of I3P is broad, entailing consolidation and central management of IT Services.

In addition, NASA’s participation and performance under the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) has resulted in the closing of 13 data centers since February 2010 with plans to close one more by the end of calendar year 2011. The remaining 54 NASA data centers will be reduced to 25 by 2015, which actually exceeds the OMB requirement under FDCCI. NASA plans to continually assess data center requirements as these consolidations evolve and after current and future data center requirements become better understood.

We intend to not only meet, but to exceed our tasking to, “…drive business process improvement, investment management, and technical decisions.”  

John Hopkins, Chief of Staff, Office of the NASA Chief Information Officer

 

Holding On In the Face of Doom and Gloom

At the end of a very rough week, I got a note from one someone who used to work with me.  She sent the following note to me:

“How do you keep from letting the turkeys get you down? Seriously, I’m looking for tips, because I see you continuing to work towards your vision, so I know you’ve figured this out for yourself (either that, or a lot of liquor). … How do you keep yourself energized? Usually I’m pretty good at this, but lately in the face of the budget, everyone’s all doom and gloom and it’s a lot harder.”

I read it Friday morning.  The week was so difficult, but I needed to be responsive.  I gave her some blah, blah, blah.  I talked about how difficult it is as a senior executive to find things to motivate you.  I said it wasn’t money or promotions or anything like that.  But, I was late for work and needed to finish the note later. 

I wanted to tell her the truth, but I needed to answer the question myself and didn’t have an answer at the moment.  Whining during bad times and celebrating good times are two extremes that for bad or worse, I avoid – and perhaps I need to work on that.  But, this particular day ended up being nearly as bad as the week.  I think I said the “F” word five times that day.  But, I needed to answer the question I got this morning, in spite of my mood.

Decimated budgets, endless scenarios, hiring freezes, questions from the press, an employee with bad news, and another one with total nonsense, and yet, I had to somehow answer a question for an amazing woman even though I found myself searching for answers and a way through these dreadful times.   I’m not sure I know the answer, but it’s important for me to find out and share with people like the amazing woman who asked me the question.  As I leader, if I don’t figure out for myself, I can’t help people I lead the bad times.  I do have a few things in my bag of tricks other than overeating, drinking too much, and sleeping too little.  Perhaps this answers the mail.

Hang out with energizing people.  Happy hour or lunch with people who make me laugh, make me think or just remind me to take deep breaths helps me tremendously.  I don’t like fake optimism, I’m a realist but someone who sees the glass half full helps me keep a constructive perspective.  Restaurant Week in Washington, DC is an amazing antidote for doom and gloom. 

Do fun things.  I had this same question before from my buddy, “F”.  He was going through a bad spell and asked me to give him something to do to get through.  I said, “Let’s go buy shoes!”  He stopped in his tracks and looked at me incredulously – then he laughed.  One time I was pretty stressed before an offsite meeting I was having with my leadership team.  I got there uncharacteristically early by 30 minutes.  I made a U-turn to the outlet stores in Queenstown, MD and decided that with a 20 minute round trip, I still had 10 minutes to shop.  There was a two-for-one sale that day and I saved a quick $100 … sort of.

Give Back.  Sometimes I get so wrapped up in my so-called huge problems, I forget about other people.  I got a chance to play the piano as an accompanist for a couple of saxophone students.  I swear I was tired but I stood up for a few hours in a sea of reeds and valve oil.  But, I wore flat shoes and knit pants and looked around to see what really matters — those kids.  Sometimes we think more about our problems than about the people we serve. 

Get a theme song.  I went through my Gloria Gaynor “I Will Survive” era several job assignments ago.  I didn’t think I would survive that job.  I set up a reminder weekly that popped on my calendar every Monday.  I would open the reminder, read the lyrics and hum it all day.  One of my CIOs has “High Hopes”.  My current one, which I gave to the employee with the bad news, the day before she got the news, is “Hold On” by 33 Miles:

… if the tide sweeps you out to sea

When your strength is gone

And it’s hard to believe

And hold on, hold on

When the current pulls you under

And your heart beats like thunder

Just give me your hand

And hold on, hold on

Until the storm is over

And I’ll be fighting for you

Just give me your hand

And hold on

 

The message from the lyrics that answers the mail is the notion that doom and gloom doesn’t last forever.  And sometimes, you do get weary and need to be energized.  But, when those times come, hold on, have hope, and believe that the storm will be over … because it will. 

 Linda Cureton

My Winter of Discontent 2011: NASA CTOs at CES

CIOs need to remember that people in their organizations – their customers — are all consumers.  CIOs shouldn’t be content in their ability to rule their world as expectations of consumers continue to creep into the workplace.  The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) gives us an opportunity to peek into the future and see what potential expectations may visit the workplace.

When I went last year, it was just before I was in the market for a new car.  I stood in the middle of the convention center floor with my mouth hanging open.  After a few months, my husband got an index card and asked me for my “requirements” for the new vehicle.  The first thing I said was … Windows 7 … and if not that, all the technology I can get — cheap. 

I decided not to go this year but I subscribed to the email list for the NASA CTOs and they are at the Consumer Electronics Show 2011 right now.  You have to love these guys – they are pretty chatty, observant, and opinionated – in a positive way, of course – my inbox runneth over.  But, the constant “ding-ding-ding” of my Smartphone just makes my heart go pitter-patter.  (Actually, I heard more from them this year than last year because there were SO many connected people at the venue last year it made my cellular communication a wee bit erratic)

Moving beyond the typical pronouncements and opinions about premature release of technology, less than stellar capabilities, and other disappointments there are some common themes that are emerging from this group of techno-illuminati.  Things are changing at a faster pace; everything is connected; and standards are slow to emerge. 

Here is just a taste of the consumer issues that need to drive CIO (crazy) strategic planning this year:

Cars with wi-fi hotspot technology – If folks start getting this in their car, you better figure out how to get it (securely) in all the right places in the workplace.  Little things mean a lot.  At NASA/Goddard our new professionals were ecstatic to have the capability at a nice shady outside pavilion; at NASA/HQ, I’m personally tickled pink that there is connectivity in the parking garage; and at NASA/Johnson, they have a cozy little spot in their cafeteria. 

A telescope that lets you see thousands of years into the past – It is also reported to have a database of over 4000 celestial bodies.  Of course this would have to get the attention of any NASA CIO.   Maybe not much excitement when compared with a Hubble Telescope which can see over 13 billion years, but it makes you wonder where the technology is heading.

Woo-hoo for the potential of cloud delivered content – This will give consumers the ability to get to data independent of the device.  Content owners will get the shakes about intellectual property rights and CIOs will get the willies about information security.  Relative to what multimedia companies are facing, I feel very hopeful that the financial potential will drive some breakthroughs in the management of this content.  That’s good news for today’s CIOs who are exploring ways to manage content in the cloud. 

A thought comes to mind from J.F. Cummings How to Rule the World: Lessons in Conquest for the Modern Prince, a satirical yet strangely instructive book that can give CIOs insight into why handwringing discontent needs to yield to proactive rapid strategic planning.  In a chapter where there is a discussion of how to thwart science and technology’s effectiveness in the “Your subject nation-state”, the reader is reminded, in a tongue-in-cheek way that “Your goal is to turn a nation-state of proactive thinkers into a band of agitated, anxiety-ridden reactionaries”. 

So, as winter ends and the hope of spring begins, IT leaders can close their mouths, dry their tears and begin to plan for this new world before they are reduced to becoming bewildered and reactive subjects of a modern princess.

Linda Cureton, NASA CIO

Leadership Versus Management

I threw the concept out at a recent All Hands Meeting that I had about the differences between leadership versus management.  I got this strange quizzical look from a few of the strong managers in the room.  I’ve seen that look many times over the past decade from some executives on my team. 

I’ve noticed that when we have these kinds of conversations, it ends up with the suggestion that strong management is equated with strong leadership.  Or that success is equivalent to strong leadership.  And sometimes there’s a little resentment because of a hint that maybe strong management is a bad thing.  But, hey, some of my best friends are strong managers and that’s not the point.  You can be successful if you’re strong in either one of them, but in times of change, you need the right amount of both.  To do so, you need to understand the difference and have the right amount of both to not just weather the storm, but come out of it better as a person or better as an organization. 

So, what is it the difference anyway?  John P. Kotter defines the differences as follows:

  • Management – makes systems of people and technology work well day after day, week after week, and year after year.
    • Planning,  budgeting, organizing and staffing
    • Controlling and problem solving
    • Taking complex systems of people and technology and making them run efficiently and effectively, hour after hour, day after day
  • Leadership –  creates the systems that managers manage and changes them in fundamental ways to take advantage of opportunities and to avoid hazards
    • Creating vision/strategy and communicating/setting direction
    • Motivating action and aligning people
    • Creating systems that managers can manage and transforming them when needed to allow for growth, evolution, opportunities and hazard avoidance

How do you know you’re a strong leader but a weak manager?  Well, typically, you’d be charismatic and perhaps very innovative and creative.  But, your career or the organizations you lead will be on the brink of chaos.  The same would hold true if your organization had a gracious plenty amount of leadership, but an insufficient amount of strong management competencies.  Oh, yeah, you’d have lots of ideas, but would seldom be able to get things done.

How do you know you’re a strong manager but a weak leader?  Well, typically, you’d have a track record of success.  But, your career would fizzle out over time and the organizations you lead would have a very difficult adapting to most changes.  An organization with an insufficient amount of strong leadership competencies would be bureaucratic and controlling and would have a difficult time adapting to changes in the environment. 

CIOs or those who lead technical people or organizations would not be surprised to find an abundance of strong managers in their organizations.  Network, operations, and data center managers create a legacy of success based on their ability to manage technology effectively and deliver reliable, consistent, and available services to customers day after day.  Yet, these heroes of today often become the dinosaurs of tomorrow when they fail to navigate rough waters of the sea of changes in customer demand or in the technology environment.   

But, getting the right balance of management and leadership in technical organizations is a big leadership hill to climb.  Paul Glen in Leading Geeks, talks about the special challenge of leading these technical management superstars:

“Geeks’ independence combines with their tendency to make merciless judgments of leaders to make it difficult to earn their respect.  Things can be especially tough for leaders without a technical background, since geeks place a high value on technical prowess as a qualification for leadership.”

It’s no wonder that successful technical organizations have difficulty recognizing leadership competencies and their value.  But, failure to do so will ultimately end up in organizational demise.  In the public sector, this translates to lack of stakeholder support, lack of relevance, and ultimately to mission failures. 

Ending here on a quote that aptly describes the management versus leadership:

The main dangers in this life are the people who want to change everything or nothing. – Lady Nancy Astor

We avoid those dangers with the right balance of both management and leadership.

 

Linda Cureton, NASA CIO