http://www.astech-engineering.com/systems/avionics/aircraft/nasaprojectmanagement.html
Some of the ones that I found interesting were:
- Rule #24
- One must pay close attention to workaholics: if they get going in the wrong direction, they can do a lot of damage in a short time ...
- Rule #27
- ... You must, where possible, shield your staff from unnecessary work (i.e., some requests should be ignored or a refusal sent to the requestor).
- Rule #35
- The number of reviews is increasing but the knowledge transfer remains the same; therefore, all your charts and presentation material should be constructed with this fact in mind. This means you should be able to construct a set of slides that only needs to be shuffled from presentation to presentation.
- Rule #55
- Over-engineering is common. Engineers like puzzles and mazes. Try to make them keep their designs simple.
- Rule #61
- Most equipment works as built, not as the designer planned. This is due to layout of the design, poor understanding on the designer's part, or poor understanding of component specifications.
- Rule #63
- Software has now taken on all the parameters of hardware (i.e., requirement creep, high percentage of flight mission cost, need for quality control, need for validation procedures, etc.). It has the added feature that it is hard as blazes to determine it is not flawed. Get the basic system working first and then add the bells and whistles. Never throw away a version that works even if you have all the confidence in the world that the newer version works. It is necessary to have contingency plans for software.
- Rule #65
- In olden times, engineers had hands-on experience, technicians understood how the electronics worked and what it was supposed to do, and layout technicians knew too; but today only the computer knows for sure and it's not talking.
From Rule #4: "...Space is not a big playing field..." MetaIrony ?
CategoryExternalLink CategoryManagement
One Hundred Rules For Nasa Project Managers