The Nature of Details
April 24th, 1990. Mission STS-31.
Space Shuttle Discovery successfully launches The Hubble Telescope into low earth orbit.
The Hubble Telescope: what should have been a crown jewel of flawless preparation and pristine execution for NASA becomes an exercise in futility.
A mirror error—equal to one-fiftieth the thickness of a human hair—cripples the 1.5 billion dollar telescope. The fix requires eleven months of preparation, a crew of seven astronauts, and a week of labor in space.
Ultimately, success: Hubble has proven a versatile research tool, whose gifts captivate the world:
None in Astronomy will forget what Hubble has given us.
All will remember the trying times getting there.
The leadership lesson is this.
Sweat the details.
Each time.
Every time.
Invest in doing so without exception. Expend all needed resources. The price of fixing an error on the back end is obscenely disproportionate to initial costs.
As is the price of producing an error. Of delivering a flawed product. In money, in time, in credibility, in reputation.
Above: The Six Sigma methodology of optimizing output through reducing errors (also of note: PDCA/The Shewart Cycle).
The Six Sigma process deserves—and demands—full commitment. Hire a consultant. Invest in the Six Sigma process. It will pay for itself—and far more.
“Six Sigma is a quality program that, when all is said and done, improves your customer’s experience, lowers your costs, and builds better leaders.”
Check. Re-check. Check again.
Nail it on the front end—or pay forever on the back end.
As the Russian proverb states, Doveryai, no proveryai.
Trust, but verify.
Mark Joseph Huckabee
