Strike in Space

“Strike in Space”

Team 3 Case Memo

Problem

After two highly successful missions to the space station “SkyLab”, the third and final mission is plagued with setbacks, miscommunication and tensions eventually lead the crew to cut off radio contact, effectively going on “strike in space”.

1. Management without leadership.
2. Performance Mismanagement.

1.  Management without leadership:

Analysis.  The third crew was being managed by Mission Control as if they were machines by developing a system that coped with the complexity.  When human elements and factors began to take a toll on the crew, no one provided the necessary leadership, at mission control or within third crew, to cope with rapid change by quickly identifying the conditions and modifying procedures to ensure mission accomplishment.  The lack of emotional intelligence by mission control and motivation by the crew would highlight an over-reliance on management and leadership vacuum.

    Mission control provided effective management but not effective leadership by organizing a

system that relied on the third crew to perform tasks in a tightly scheduled, systematic and procedural manner.  This left the crew feeling powerless and without autonomy by leaving them out of the experiment nomination process before the launch and disapproving the crew’s scheduling requests during the launch.  There were also indications of questionable leadership by the flight commander prior to the launch by saying disparaging remarks to the press indicating a lack of confidence about the crew’s ability to perform.  

    On the first day of the mission, the flight commander set a tone of noncompliance towards mission control by directing that a reportable incident be covered up to prevent any loss of productivity.  Due to dissention of the flight commander, it became easier for the rest of the crew to dismiss orders and tasks by mission control.  Mission control’s response to the noncompliance was a harsh reprimand which left the crew feeling unaligned.  Further, after being told by the director of the SkyLab program that the crew would maintain a schedule that was predictable and balanced, the crew was subjected to an increasingly difficult schedule without buy-in which continued to misalign the crew. However, no one at mission control or in third crew took the initiative to provide the necessary leadership to realign and refocus everyone on the mission at hand.