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 Airto-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with the purpose of providing an effective learning source for project management, encouraging the unlearning of outdated project management concepts, and enhancing awareness of the contexts surrounding different projects.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.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Dr. Alex Laufer is the editor-in-chief of the NASAAcademy of Program and Project Leadership magazine, ASK:Academy Sharing Knowledge. He is a member of the Editorial Review Board of Project Management Journal, and has served as a member of the Advisory Board of the NASA Academy of Program and Project Leadership.

Mr.Todd Post has been writing professionally for close to 20 years. From 2001 to 2003, he was editor of ASK magazine. Under his leadership, ASK expanded from a small electronic publication to a four-color print publication which has won numerous prizes for publication excellence, including two Blue Pencil Awards from the National Association of Government Communicators.

Dr. Ed Hoffman is the director of the NASA Academy of Program and Project Leadership. In this capacity for the last 12 years, he has been responsible for the development of program and project leaders and teams within NASA. Drs. Hoffman and Laufer are the co-authors of Project Management Success Stories: Lessons of Project Leaders (Wiley, 2000).

Download Shared Voyage: Learning and Unlearning from Remarkable Projects

PDF format, 1.1MB, 238Pages. From NASA History.

Dr. Alexander Laufer, Todd Post, Dr. Edward J. Hoffman
Foreword by Dr. Ronald A. Heifetz
The NASA History Series
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA History Division
Office of External Relations
Washington, DC
January 2005
NASA SP-2005-4111

CONTENTS
Foreword by Dr. Ronald A. Heifetz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1 Introduction: Case Studies through Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Leading Quietly With Common Sense:ACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3 Fast Learning, Faster Unlearning: JASSM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4 Flying High on Spirit:The Pathfinder Solar-Powered Airplane. . . . . . . . . 125
5 Shaking Hands and Shaking Things Up:AMRAAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
6 Summary: Sensitivity to Project Context. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Epilogue:What Historians Can Offer Project Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Appendix A: List of Interviewees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Appendix B: Biographies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

INTRODUCTION:
Case Studies through Stories

This book is about four remarkable projects, two from NASA and two from the U.S. Air Force, and each is presented as a case study comprised of stories collected from key members of the project teams.We chose this format for Shared Voyage because people, to put it simply, love to read stories. Stories attract and captivate, plus they are memorable.1 The fact that most people are attracted to stories is crucial, especially in situations where the prospective learner suffers from a lack of time—which is the case for most project managers. More important, stories are very useful for sharing and disseminating organizational knowledge.

Story-based management books are not a new phenomenon. In Search of Excellence is probably the best known story-based book on general management, while The Soul of a New Machine is probably the best story book ever written on managing a project.3 Our book, Shared Voyage, is meant primarily to serve as a selflearning handbook and reference guide for experienced, as well as less experienced practitioners. ...

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