100 rules for NASA Project Managers

The Project Manager

Rule 1: A project manager should visit everyone who is building anything for his project at
least once, should know all the managers on his project (both government and contractor),
and know the integration team members. People like to know that the project manager is
interested in their work and the best proof is for the manager to visit them and see first hand
what they are doing.

Rule 2: A project manager must know what motivates the project contractors (i.e., their
award system, their fiscal system, their policies, and their company culture).

Rule 3: Management principles still are the same. It is just that the tools have changed. You
still find the right people to do the work and get out of the way so they can do it.

Rule 4: Whoever you deal with, deal fairly. Space is not a big playing field. You may be
surprised how often you have to work with the same people. Better they respect you than
carry a grudge.

Rule 5: Vicious, despicable, or thoroughly disliked persons, gentlemen, and ladies can be
project managers. Lost souls, procrastinators, and wishy-washies can not.

Rule 6: A comfortable project manager is one waiting for his next assignment or one on the
verge of failure. Security is not normal to project management.

Rule 7: One problem new managers face is that everyone wants to solve their problems. Old
managers were told by senior management, "solve your own darn problems, that is what we
hired you to do".

Rule 8: Running fast does not take the place of thinking for yourself. You must take time to
smell the roses. For your work, you must take time to understand the consequences of your
actions.

Rule 9: The boss may not know how to do the work but he has to know what he wants. The
boss had better find out what he expects and wants if he doesn't know. A blind leader tends
to go in circles.

Rule 10: Not all successful managers are competent and not all failed managers are
incompetent. Luck still plays a part in success or failure but luck favors the competent hard
working manager.

Rule 11: Never try to get even for some slight by anyone on the project. It is not good form
and it puts you on the same level as the other person and, besides, probably ends up hurting
the project getting done.

Rule 12: Don't get too egotistical so that you can't change your position, especially if your
personnel tell you that you are wrong. You should cultivate an attitude on the project where
your personnel know they can tell you of wrong decisions.

Rule 13: A manager who is his own systems engineer or financial manager is one who will
probably try to do open heart surgery on himself.
 
Rule 14: Most managers succeed on the strength and skill of their staff.

Initial Work

Rule 15: The seeds of problems are laid down early. Initial planning is the most vital part of a
project. The review of most failed projects or project problems indicate the disasters were
well planned to happen from the start.

Communications

Rule 16: Cooperative efforts require good communications and early warning systems. A
project manager should try to keep his partners aware of what is going on and should be the
one who tells them first of any rumor or actual changes in plan. The partners should be
consulted before things are put in final form, even if they only have a small piece of the
action. A project manager who blindsides his partners will be treated in kind and will be
considered a person of no integrity.

Rule 17: Talk is not cheap; but the best way to understand a personnel or technical problem
is to talk to the right people. Lack of talk at the right levels is deadly.

Rule 18: Most international meetings are held in English. This is a foreign language to most
participants such as Americans, Germans, Italians, etc. It is important to have adequate
discussions so that there are no misinterpretations of what is said.

Rule 19: You cannot be ignorant of the language of the area you manage or with that of
areas with which you interface. Education is a must for the modern manager. There are
simple courses available to learn computerese, communicationese, and all the rest of the
modern "ese's" of the world. You can't manage if you don't understand what is being said or
written.

People

Rule 20: You cannot watch everything. What you can watch is the people. They have to
know you will not accept a poor job.

Rule 21: We have developed a set of people whose self interest is more paramount than the
work, or at least it appears so to older managers. It appears to the older managers that the
newer ones are more interested in form than in substance. The question is, are old
managers right or just old? Consider both viewpoints.

Rule 22: A good technician, quality inspector, and straw boss are more important in
obtaining a good product than all the paper and reviews.

Rule 23: The source of most problems is people, but darned if they will admit it. Know the
people working on your project to know what the real weak spots are.

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. It is possible to overload them and
cause premature burnout but hard to determine if the load is too much, since much of it is
self-generated. It is important to make sure such people take enough time off and that the
workload does not exceed 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 times what is normal.

Rule 25: Always try to negotiate your internal support at the lowest level. What you want is
the support of the person doing the work, and the closer you can get to him in negotiations
the better.

Rule 26: If you have someone who doesn't look, ask, and analyze; ask them to transfer.

Rule 27: Personal time is very important. You must be careful as a manager that you realize
the value of other people's time (i.e., the work you hand out and meetings should be
necessary). 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 28: People who monitor work and don't help get it done never seem to know exactly
what is going on (being involved is the key to excellence).

Rule 29: There is no greater motivation than giving a good person his piece of the puzzle to
control, but a pat on the back or an award helps.

Rule 30: It is mainly the incompetent that don't like to show off their work.

Rule 31: There are rare times when only one man can do the job. These are in technical
areas that are more art and skill than normal. Cherish these people, but get their work done
as soon as possible. Getting the work done by someone else takes two or three times longer
and the product is normally below standard.

Rule 32: People have reasons for doing things the way they do them. Most people want to
do a good job and, if they don't, the problem is they probably don't know how or exactly what
is expected.

Rule 33: If you have a problem that requires additional people to solve, you should approach
putting people on like a cook who has under-salted the food.

Reviews and Reports

Rule 34: NASA has established a set of reviewers and a set of reviews. Once firmly
established, the system will fight to stay alive, so make the most of it. Try to find a way for
the reviews to work for you.

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 36: Hide nothing from the reviewers. Their reputation and yours is on the line. Expose
all the warts and pimples. Don't offer excuses, just state facts.

Rule 37: External reviews are scheduled at the worst possible time, therefore, keep an up-todate set of business and technical data so that you can rapidly respond. Not having up-todate data should be cause for dismissal.

Rule 38: Never undercut your staff in public (i.e., In public meetings, don't reverse decisions
on work that you have given them to do). Even if you direct a change, never take the
responsibility for implementing away from your staff.

Rule 39: Reviews are for the reviewed and not the reviewer. The review is a failure if the
reviewed learn nothing from it.

Rule 40: A working meeting has about six people attending. Meetings larger than this are for
information transfer (management science has shown that, in a group greater than twelve,
some are wasting their time).

Rule 41: The amount of reviews and reports are proportional to management's
understanding (i.e., the less management knows or understands the activities, the more they
require reviews and reports). It is necessary in this type of environment to make sure that
data is presented so that the average person, slightly familiar with activities, can understand
it. Keeping the data simple and clear never insults anyone's intelligence.

Rule 42: Managers who rely only on the paperwork to do the reporting of activities are
known failures.

Rule 43: Documentation does not take the place of knowledge. There is a great difference in
what is supposed to be, what is thought to have happened, and reality. Documents are
normally a static picture in time that get outdated rapidly.

Rule 44: Just because you give monthly reports, don't think that you can abbreviate anything
in a yearly report. If management understood the monthlies, they wouldn't need a yearly.

Rule 45: Abbreviations are getting to be a pain. Each project now has a few thousand. This
calls on senior management to know hundreds. Use them sparingly in presentations unless
your objective is to confuse.

Rule 46: Remember, it is often easier to do foolish paperwork that to fight the need for it.
Fight only if it is a global issue which will save much future work.

Contractors and Contracting

Rule 47: A project manager is not the monitor of the contractor's work but is to be the driver.
In award fee situations, the government personnel should be making every effort possible to
make sure the contractor gets a high score (i.e., be on schedule and produce good work).
Contractors don't fail, NASA does, and that is why one must be proactive in support. This is
also why a low score damages the government project manager as much as the contractor's
manager because it means that he is not getting the job done.

Rule 48: Award fee is a good tool that puts discipline both on the contractor and the
government. The score given represents the status of the project as well as the
management skills of both parties. The project management measurement system (pms)
should be used to verify the scores. Consistent poor scores require senior management
intervention to determine the reason. Consistent good scores which are consistent with pms
reflect a well-run project, but if these scores are not consistent with the pms, senior
management must take action to find out why.

Rule 49: Morale of the contractor's personnel is important to a government manager. Just as
you don't want to buy a car built by disgruntled employees, you don't want to buy flight
hardware developed by under-motivated people. You should take an active role in motivating
all personnel on the project.

Rule 50: Being friendly with a contractor is fine, being a friend of a contractor is dangerous to
your objectivity.

Rule 51: Remember, your contractor has a tendency to have a one-on-one interface with
your staff. Every member of your staff costs you at least one person on the contract per
year.

Rule 52: Contractors tend to size up the government counterparts and staff their part of the
project accordingly. If they think yours are clunkers, they will take their poorer people to put
on your project.

Rule 53: Contractors respond well to the customer that pays attention to what they are doing
but not too well to the customer that continually second-guesses their activity. The basic rule
is a customer is always right but the cost will escalate if a customer always has things done
his way instead of how the contractor planned on doing it. The ground rule is: never change
a contractor's plans unless they are flawed or too costly (i.e., the old saying that better is the
enemy of good).

Rule 54: There is only one solution to a weak project manager in industry, get rid of him fast.
The main job of a project manager in industry is to keep the customer happy. Make sure the
one working with you knows that it is not flattery but on-schedule, on-cost, and a good
product that makes you happy.

Engineers and Scientists

Rule 55: Over-engineering is common. Engineers like puzzles and mazes. Try to make them
keep their designs simple.

Rule 56: The first sign of trouble comes from the schedule or the cost curve. Engineers are
the last to know they are in trouble. Engineers are born optimists.

Rule 57: The project has many resources within itself. There probably are five or ten system
engineers considering all the contractors and instrument developers. This is a powerful
resource that can be used to attack problems.

Rule 58: Many managers, just because they have the scientists under contract on their
project, forget that the scientists are their customers and many times have easier access to
top management than the managers do.

Rule 59: Most scientists are rational unless you endanger their chance to do their
experiment. They will work with you if they believe you are telling them the truth. This
includes reducing their own plans.

Rule 60: In the space business, there is no such thing as previously flown hardware. The
people who build the next unit probably never saw the previous unit. There are probably
minor changes (perhaps even major changes); the operational environment has probably
changed; the people who check the unit out in most cases will not understand the unit or the
test equipment.

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.

Computers and Software

Rule 62: Not using modern techniques, like computer systems, is a great mistake, but
forgetting that the computer simulates thinking is a still greater mistake.

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 64: Knowledge is often revised by simulations or testing, but computer models have
hidden flaws not the least of which is poor input data.

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.

Senior Management, Program Offices, and Above

Rule 66: Don't assume you know why senior management has done something. If you feel
you need to know, ask. You get some amazing answers that will astonish you.

Rule 67: Know your management, some like a good joke, others only like a joke if they tell it.

Rule 68: Remember the boss has the right to make decisions. Even if you think they are
wrong, tell the boss what you think but if he still wants it done his way; do it his way and do
your best to make sure the outcome is successful.

Rule 69: Never ask management to make a decision that you can make. Assume you have
the authority to make decisions unless you know there is a document that states
unequivocally that you can't.

Rule 70: You and the Program Manager should work as a team. The Program Manager is
your advocate at NASA HQ and must be tied into the decision-makers and should aid your
efforts to be tied in also.

Rule 71: Know who the decision-makers on the program are. It may be someone outside
who has the ear of Congress or the Administrator, or the Associate Administrator, or one of
the scientists, someone in the chain of command. Whoever they are, try to get a line of
communication to them on a formal or informal basis.

Program Planning, Budgeting, and Estimating

Rule 72: Today one must push the state of the art, be within budget, take risks, not fail, and
be on time. Strangely, all these are consistent as long as the ground rules such as funding
profile and schedule are established up front and maintained.

Rule 73: Most of yesteryear's projects overran because of poor estimates and not because
of mistakes. Getting better estimates will not lower costs but will improve NASA's business
reputation. Actually, there is a high probability that getting better estimates will increase
costs and assure a higher profit to industry unless the fee is reduced to reflect lower risk on
the part of industry. A better reputation is necessary in the present environment.

Rule 74: All problems are solvable in time, so make sure you have enough schedule
contingency, if you don't, the next project manager that takes your place will.

Rule 75: The old NASA pushed the limits of technology and science; therefore, it did not
worry about requirements creep or overruns. The new NASA has to work as if all projects
are fixed price; therefore, requirement creep has become a deadly sin.

Rule 76: Know the resources of your center and, if possible, other centers. Other centers, if
they have the resources, are normally happy to help. It is always surprising how much good
help one can get by just asking.

Rule 77: Other than budget information prior to the President's submittal to Congress, there
is probably no secret information on a project, so don't treat anything like it is secret.
Everyone does better if they can see the whole picture so don't hide any of it from anyone.

Rule 78: NASA programs compete for budget funds, they do not compete with each other
(i.e., you never attack any other program or NASA work with the idea that you should get
their funding). Sell what you have on its own merit.

Rule 79: Next year is always the year with adequate funding and schedule. Next year arrives
on the 50th year of your career.

The Customer 
Rule 80: Remember who the customer is and what his objectives are (i.e., check with him
when you go to change anything of significance).

NASA Management Instructions

Rule 81: NASA Management Instructions were written by another NASA employee like you;
therefore, challenge them if they don't make sense. It is possible another NASA employee
will rewrite them or waive them for you.

Decision making

Rule 82: Wrong decisions made early can be recovered from. Right decisions made late
cannot correct them.

Rule 83: Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. It is also occasionally the best help you
can give. Just listening is all that is needed on many occasions. You may be the boss, but if
you constantly have to solve someone's problems, you are working for him.

Rule 84: Never make a decision from a cartoon. Look at the actual hardware or what real
information is available such as layouts. Too much time is wasted by people trying to cure a
cartoon whose function is to explain the principle.

Professional Ethics and Integrity

Rule 85: Integrity means your subordinates trust you.

Rule 86: In the rush to get things done, it's always important to remember who you work for.
Blindsiding the boss will not be to your benefit in the long run.

Project Management and Teamwork

Rule 87: Projects require teamwork to succeed. Remember, most teams have a coach and
not a boss, but the coach still has to call some of the plays.

Rule 88: Never assume someone knows something or has done something unless you have
asked them; even the obvious is overlooked or ignored on occasion, especially in a high
stress activity.

Rule 89: Whoever said beggars can't be choosers doesn't understand project management,
although many times it is better to trust to luck than to get poor support.

Rule 90: A puzzle is hard to discern from just one piece; so don't be surprised if team
members deprived of information reach the wrong conclusion.

Rule 91: Remember, the President, Congress, OMB, NASA HQ, senior center management,
and your customers all have jobs to do. All you have to do is keep them all happy.
Treating and Avoiding Failures

Rule 92: In case of a failure:
a) Make a timeline of events and include everything that is known.
b) Put down known facts. Check every theory against them.
c) Don't beat the data until it confesses (i.e., know when to stop trying to force-fit a
scenario).
d) Do not arrive at a conclusion too fast. Make sure any deviation from normal is
explained. Remember the wrong conclusion is prologue to the next failure.
e) Know when to stop.One Hundred Rules for NASA Project Managers 10

Rule 93: Things that fail are lessons learned for the future. Occasionally things go right:
these are also lessons learned. Try to duplicate that which works.

Rule 94: Mistakes are all right but failure is not. Failure is just a mistake you can't recover
from; therefore, try to create contingency plans and alternate approaches for the items or
plans that have high risk.

Rule 95: History is prologue. There has not been a project yet that has not had a parts
problem despite all the qualification and testing done on parts. Time and being prepared to
react are the only safeguards.

Rule 96: Experience may be fine but testing is better. Knowing something will work never
takes the place of proving that it will.

Rule 97: Don't be afraid to fail or you will not succeed, but always work at your skill to
recover. Part of that skill is knowing who can help.

Rule 98: One of the advantages of NASA in the early days was the fact that everyone knew
that the facts we were absolutely sure of could be wrong.

Rule 99: Redundancy in hardware can be a fiction. We are adept at building things to be
identical so that if one fails, the other will also fail. Make sure all hardware is treated in a
build as if it were one of a kind and needed for mission success.

Rule 100: Never make excuses; instead, present plans of actions to be taken.

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