Damage Control
NASA is engaging in some damage control, literally. Having concluded that
inadequate methods of applying and repairing foam on the space shuttle's fuel tank probably contributed to the dangerous loss of a chunk of the insulation during Discovery's (search) launch 2-1/2 months ago
the space agency has decided to engage in some work redesign:
NASA already has introduced new techniques for applying foam and is limiting workers' access to vulnerable areas. Some redesign work will be required in the spot where foam came off Columbia and resulted in a fatal blow to the wing. During Discovery's liftoff, an 8-inch piece of foam broke off that same area. In all, worrisomely large foam chunks flew off in five spots.
Perhaps it goes without saying but, I will anyway: NASA dodged a bullet this summer, five of them actually, each one made of foam. Had this last summer's mistakes led to another shuttle disaster, there would be no discussion of the redesign of "inadequate methods". Rather it would have spelled the end of the manned space progam for a generation and resulted in an enormous loss of national prestige and scientific knowledge. How interesting it is then that with just one major mistake stending between it and its dissolution, NASA stakes its future on one of organizational behavior's most unknown and underappreciated fields of study. Let us wish them godspeed.
Further Reading
Work Redesign (Organizational Development)
by Richard Hackman, Greg Oldham
Transforming Work: Collaboration, Learning, and Design
by Patricia Sachs