I’ve always been a space nut. I was one of those nerdy kids in the 60’s-70’s who sent handwritten letters to NASA asking for mission photos, and actually received several back, which was quite a thrill. Do they still have the money to do that? Probably not.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the importance of communication in large-scale IT programs, how prone to failure our programs/deployments are, and the lessons I had by listening in on the Ares 1-X launch last Fall.
While the great majority of people saw the few seconds of the actual launch on TV, I invested several hours listening to the live launch feed, which due to several factors (including a ship entering restricted waters) was pushed back multiple times and eventually took place the following day.
Why invest the time? I found myself intrigued by the communication process used between Mission Controllers* and the dozens of people on the line, each with their own accountabilities and at diverse locations around the globe. It immediately reminded me of many large-scale IT projects I have been a part of, and here’s what I took away from the experience: