Systems Engineering Seminar

GEMS - Lessons Learned

Presented by:
Dr. Edward W. Rogers, Chief Knowledge Officer, Code 100

Tuesday, March 5, 2013,1:00 p.m.
Building 3 Auditorium

Biography:

GEMS - Lessons Learned

Dr. Edward Rogers is the Chief Knowledge Officer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland. As the CKO, he is responsible for lessons learned and knowledge management practices at the Center. At Goddard he developed the Pause and Learn Process, the Goddard Case Study Methodology and the Road to Mission Success Workshop Series. The son of a physicist, he grew up in Saudi Arabia, attended boarding school in India and in the early 1980s performed five years of relief work in Southern Lebanon. He holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations focusing on the role of cooperation in high tech firms. Before joining NASA in 2003, he taught strategic management and entrepreneurship at Cornell, Duke and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He continues to teach how to manage complexity at the Indian School of Business to MBA students and in executive education programs. In 2010 he received NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal for his learning practices at NASA where he uses concept mapping extensively in building case studies.

 

Abstract:

The GEMS mission was awarded to Goddard after a hard fought competitive proposal process. Yet barely three years later HQ cancelled the mission. This session will be about both the process of learning from a convoluted event like the GEMS project and what the emerging lessons are. The learning is still underway with continuing discussions at the Center and HQ. This is not the “FINAL” report but an update on how the process is working and the difficulty of getting meaningful programmatic lessons which we can act upon. Ed Rogers led the effort to get lessons from GEMS meeting with over 50 people and assembling concept maps to collect the issues. Some questions to ponder for this session: How do we assure that what we propose and win is also executable? How do we communicate with HQ and the Program Office and Center Mgmt all at the same time? How do we manage instruments with embedded technology hurdles on a cost capped mission? And what is the future role of small projects with respect to the development of project personnel at Goddard? These questions all can pose headaches for Systems Engineers-experienced or aspiring. Come join the discussion on March 5th....

 

 

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