Engineering topics

Post, Todd

Publications and source records attributed to Post, Todd.

14 records

NASA NTRS2005

Shared Voyage: Learning and Unlearning from Remarkable Projects

Shared Voyage is about four remarkable projects: the Advanced Composition Explorer (NASA), the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (U.S. Air Force), the Pathfinder Solar-Powered Airplane (NASA), and the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (U.S.Air Force). Each project is presented as a case study comprised of stories collected from key members of the project teams. The stories found in the book are included with the purpose of providing an effective learning source for project management, encouraging the unlearning of outdated project management concepts, and enhancing awareness of the contexts surrounding different projects. Significantly different from project concepts found in most project management literature, Shared Voyage highlights concepts like a will to win, a results-oriented focus, and collaboration through trust. All four project teams researched in this study applied similar concepts; however, they applied them differently, tailoring them to fit the context of their own particular projects. It is clear that the one best way approach which is still the prevailing paradigm in project management literature should be replaced by a new paradigm: Even though general project management principles exist, their successful application depends on the specifics of the situation.

Laufer, Alexander↗

NASA NTRS2004

ASK Magazine

The following articles were processed for inclusion in the NA&SD database:Right on Time, Radically; Radical is Temporary; Walking a Fine Line; Sounds Clear Enough; Bringing Up Baby; Transition Time: Zero; Passing the Baton - Lessons in Regret; The PMDP Roadmap; Managing History: A Practicum; and ASK Talks with Tom Gavin.

Laufer, Alexander↗

NASA NTRS2004

ASK Magazine

The contents include the following: The Journey Back;What GOES Around, Comes Around;Marbles for the Imagination;End-to-End Commitment;Fly Away; Going Up; Say What You Mean; ASK Talks with William Ready.

Laufer, Alexander↗

NASA NTRS2003

ASK Magazine

WELCOME TO THE ACADEMY OF PROGRAM AND PROJECT Leadership (APPL) and ASK Magazine. APPL helps NASA managers and project teams accomplish today s missions and meet tomorrow s challenges by providing performance enhancement services and tools, supporting career development programs, sponsoring knowledge sharing events and publications, and creating opportu- nities for project management collaboration with univer- sities, professional associations, industry partners, and other government agencies. ASK Magazine grew out of APPL s Knowledge Sharing Initiative. The stories that appear in ASK are written by the best of the best project managers, primarily from NASA, but also from other government agencies and industry. In a mature view of the subject career development is not simply four years of college or a week at training, culminating in a diploma or a certificate to hang on an office wall. That s why we wanted to take a broad look at career development in this issue of ASK.

Laufer, Alexander↗

NASA NTRS2003

Oh, Develop

In a mature view of the subject, career development is not simply four years of college or a week at training, culminating in a diploma or a certificate to hang on an office wall. That's why we wanted to take a broad look at career development in this issue of ASK. Take for example, Dr. Gerald Mulenburg s contribution, Fly on the Wall. When Mulenburg and other members of a knowledge-sharing group at Ames were invited to observe an upcoming project review, Mulenburg thought it would be interesting to learn how another project does its reviews. Note that Mulenburg is no fresh out who's never attended a NASA project review. Not only has he been through a fair share of them as the reviewed, he has also been on the other side of the table as a reviewer. This experienced project manager recognizes that at any stage of a career there is room to grow and develop one's repertoire. Too often people associate career development with textbooks and role classroom training, far removed from project life. But classroom training need not be like this, as you'll find in our Special Feature, The Enterprise Project by Wendy Dolci, which sprung out of an APPL Advanced Project Management class in July 2003 at Ames Research Center. In addition to Dolci, some of her classmates contribute to the story. Mike Sander of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, project manager for the Mars Science Laboratory mission, who provided the assignment on which the story is based, also has a cameo in the story. We think Dolci's story is an inspiring example of what classroom training can be if it's approached imaginatively and made to serve a practical purpose. Another story from Ames, by Frank Larsen, takes a different twist on career development. At the annual Experimental Aircraft Association Fly-in in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Larsen represented Ames at a NASA booth. While there, Larsen met a colleague from Glenn Research Center. Months later on a project with a quick turnaround, he remembered his colleague from Glenn who had equipment that might help Larsen save time and money on his project. Although they had never worked together and they had to unravel a lot of red tape before they could collaborate, they managed a way to get the job done. There are other stories in this issue that deal directly with this theme of career development. Then there are others in which it is less explicit. But if you take the view that career development happens all the time, and is as necessary to your survival as breathing, then you can read almost any story in ASK with your career development in mind. In that case, all the best, and so then-start developing.

Post, Todd↗

NASA NTRS2003

ASK Magazine

Academy of Program and Project Leadership (APPL) and ASK Magazine helps NASA managers and project teams accomplish today's missions and meet tomorrow's challenges by providing performance enhancement services and tools, supporting career development programs, sponsoring knowledge sharing events and publications, and creating opportunities for project management collaboration with universities, professional associations, industry partners, and other government agencies. ASK Magazine grew out of APPL's Knowledge Sharing Initiative. The stories that appear in ASK are written by the best of the best project managers, primarily from NASA, but also from other government agencies and industry. These stories contain genuine nuggets of knowledge and wisdom that are transferable across projects. Who better than a project manager to help another project manager address a critical issue on a project? Big projects, small projects - they're all here in ASK. Please direct all inquiries about ASK Magazine editorial policy to Todd Post, EduTech Ltd., 8455 Colesville Rd., Suite 930, Silver Spring, MD 20910, (301) 585-1030; or email to tpost@edutechltd.com.

Laufer, Alexander↗

NASA NTRS2003

ASK Magazine

Many of the stories in this magazine for NASA project managers are written by project managers, who use anecdotes from their experience to illustrate managerial lessons. This issue also includes features, an interview, and book reviews.

Post, Todd↗

NASA NTRS2003

ASK Magazine

Welcome to the Academy of Program and Project Leadership (APPL) and ASK Magazine. APPL helps NASA managers and project teams accomplish today's missions and meet tomorrow's challenges by providing performance enhancement services and tools, supporting career development programs, sponsoring knowledge sharing events and publications, and creating opportunities for project management collaboration with universities, professional associations, industry partners and other government agencies. ASK Magazine grew out of APPL's Knowledge Sharing Initiative. The stories that appear in ASK are written by the 'best of the best' project managers, primarily from NASA, but also from other government agencies and industry. These stories contain genuine nuggets of knowledge and wisdom that are transferable across projects. Who better than a project manager to help another project manager address a critical issue on a project? Big projects, smaLl projects-they're ali here in ASK. Stories in this issue include: Earthly Considerations on Mars, Getting Politically Active, Stumping for the Project, Grins & Giggles: The Launch Pad to High Performance, Transfer Wisdom Workshops: Coming to a NASA Center Near You, Project Management: The Television Show, Lessons Learned Again and Again and Again, Implementation Reviews, ASK Talks with Dr. Michael Hecht, and What Is This Fourth Dimension?.

Laufer, Alexander↗

NASA NTRS2002

ASK Magazine

Most of this issue is about ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer). We've collected stories by four members of the ACE management team: Don Margolies, the mission manager from Goddard Space Flight Center; Frandsen, science payloads manager from the Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Mary Chin, project manager in charge of spacecraft development at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory; and Frank Snow, operations and ground systems manager at Goddard.

Post, Todd↗

NASA NTRS2002

ASK Magazine

During our lives we lose our innocence and gain experience about the world on myriad occasions. What do we learn about ourselves from this? Uncomfortable as such occasions may be when they occur, reflective practitioners will see them later on for what they are: terrific opportunities to learn. Experience may come by way of profound moments of change, or occur over long stretches of time by the steady accrual of small changes. Change doesn't occur any less often as we get older, but a lifetime of dealing with change certainly provides us with precious insights of how to weather our changes better. Essential to being a reflective practitioner is a willingness to test one's assumptions and change what one believes with new knowledge. We find this theme played out in all of the following stories.

Post, Todd↗

NASA NTRS2002

Conference Report: Masters Forum IV, February 2002

The purpose of the APPL Masters Forum is to bring together some of the best project managers at NASA, as well as those in industry and other government agencies, for 2 1/2 days of knowledge sharing. The project managers come eager to reflect on their project experiences, to learn new things from one another--and to unlearn a few things, too. This was the fourth Masters Forum, and the first one held outside Washington, DC. Fifty participants from across the country came to Dallas at the American Airlines Conference Center, a wonderful facility that was conveniently located by the airport and yet still seemed isolated from the rest of the world. Masters Forum IV was also the first one held during the winter. Previous Masters Forums have been during the summer. Hot, sticky Washington, D.C. in the summer may sound unpleasant, but frankly the popularity of earlier Forums is what led to this annual event becoming a semiannual one.

Post, Todd↗

NASA NTRS2002

ASK Magazine

What makes a successful team? In this issue our contributors look closely at the subject and come up with several answers. Working on team chemistry is the "Activation Energy" Dr. Owen Gadeken's story is about. Scott Cameron thinks it's getting to know people one to one. Tony Maturo says it's getting the most out of your support staff. Dr. Michael Hecht finds the best people he can and build the team around their talents. Teamwork is a theme we explore often in Academy Sharing Knowledge (ASK), but never so directly as in this issue. You'll not only find formulas for building successful teams, you'll see examples of ones in action, strategies for how project managers can motivate their teams, and expert advice on how to choose who to work with and who not to work with. It seems like all the stories make one common point: everyone on a team counts. Few project managers can pull off a project alone, and when the whole team is performing to everyone's potential, the chances of pulling off a successful project goes up exponentially. If that doesn't seem like enough by itself, listen to this... Discerning fans of ASK will note the last two issues our Special Feature was "There are no Mistakes, Only Lessons." We have not abandoned this feature, but for now we want to broaden our repertoire. In this issue we add a new Special Feature, "My Metaphor," starting with Paul Espinosa's article "My Big Wall" about his rock climbing adventures on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. If you think getting to Mars is work, read what it's like to scale a 3,000-foot rock face. This issue we're also welcoming two new members to our Review Board, Hugh Woodward and Jody Kusek. Hugh and Jody are our first reviewers from outside NASA, and we are delighted to have them on our team. Read their bios on the ASK Review Board page and see why we feel privileged to have them on our team.

Post, Todd↗

NASA NTRS2001

Academy Sharing Knowledge (ASK). The NASA Source for Project Management Magazine

How big is your project world? Is it big enough to contain other cultures, headquarters, hierarchies, and weird harpoon-like guns? Sure it is. The great American poet Walt Whitman said it best, 'I am large/I contain multitudes.' And so must you, Mr. and Ms. Project Manager. In this issue of ASK, we look outside the project box. See how several talented project managers have expanded their definition of project scope to include managing environments outside the systems and subsystems under their care. Here's a sampling of what we've put together for you this issue: In 'Three Screws Missing,' Mike Skidmore tells about his adventures at the Plesetek Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Ray Morgan in his story, 'Our Man in Kauai,' suggests we take a broader view of what's meant by 'the team.' Jenny Baer-Riedhart, the NASA program manager on the same Pathfinder solar-powered airplane, schools us in how to sell a program to Headquarters in 'Know Thyself--But Don't Forget to Learn About the Customer Too.' Scott Cameron of Proctor and Gamble talks about sharpening your hierarchical IQ in 'The Project Manager and the Hour Glass.' Mike Jansen in 'The Lawn Dart' describes how he and the 'voodoo crew' on the Space Shuttle Advanced Solid Rocket Motor program borrowed a harpoon-like gun from the Coast Guard to catch particles inside of a plume. These are just some of the stories you'll find in ASK this issue. We hope they cause you to stop and reflect on your own project's relationship to the world outside. We are also launching a new section this issue, 'There are No Mistakes, Only Lessons.' No stranger to ASK readers, Terry Little inaugurates this new section with his article 'The Don Quixote Complex.'

Post, Todd↗

NASA NTRS2001

ASK Magazine

Not everyone looks forward to reviews. Dog and pony shows I've heard them called. Exercises in putting together Power Point charts. Other less tasteful descriptions abound, but I won't bother to summarize these. This is a tasteful magazine after all. In this issue, we've assembled a number of articles on the subject of reviews, particularly as they occur in the NASA project world (although we cover the subject from other perspectives too). Veteran NASA Project Manager Marty Davis, in his article Tangled Up in Reviews, writes, "Many people regard reviews as something onerous, but if we can tailor them so that they're not as bad as they have to be, it can be a great benefit to a project manager." Great benefits to the project manager is what you'll find in Marty's story as he describes not only tailoring a single review but the entire lifecycle of reviews in his project. In Jo Gunderson's story, Calling Down the Fire on Yourself, she describes a young NASA Project Manager who does just that because, as he tells her, I needed to know if there was anything that I had overlooked." How he brings fire down on himself at his project review will inspire other young Project Managers, seasoned managers, and anyone else who reads this powerful story. Leave Your Ego at the Door, by Jenny Baer-Reidhart and Ray Morgan, uses reviews to highlight the creative collaboration that existed between NASA and one of its industry partners. The protagonist of this story is a company who took advantage of NASAs expert advice during reviews and accomplished amazing feats as a result. The story also examines how disasters might well have been avoided by two other NASA partners had they been as open-minded as the first company during their reviews. In Roy Malone's story, Standing Offer, a NASA Project Manager describes how he used a crack review team to help him pass a critical certification inspection while he was a Combat Systems Officer in the Navy. Malone invited the reviewers to come back several times so that they would be able to focus in detail on the many areas of the program that would be scrutinized during the certification inspection. These are just a sampling of some of the articles you'll find in this issue of ASK. We believe this issue offers ample evidence that talented Project Managers know how to use reviews to the great benefit of their projects. A talented Project Manager will typically figure out a way to turn any onerous task into a useful learning exercise. These Project Managers demonstrate that the real value of reviews is that they provide a chance to learn something. No dog and pony shows here.

Laufer, Alexander↗