Nigel Packham, Associate Director, Safety and Mission Assurance, NASA Johnson Space Center
You’re sitting in a meeting and the Program Manager/CEO/VP of Engineering – any senior leader – makes a major decision. You have been thinking about this topic for some time now and really believe that this decision involves too much risk. So, what now? Do you speak up? Do you wait until the meeting is over and talk about how bad the decision is with your closest colleagues?
At NASA, you have three choices when faced with a major decision – Agree. Disagree with the decision but be willing to fully support it.
Or disagree and register a formal dissent. That formal dissent can be appealed up to the level of the NASA Administrator.
Disagreeing with a formal decision made by a senior leader because it involves too much risk is not easy and ironically can put you at risk. However, the ability to raise an alternate opinion (less formal) or registering a formal dissent, without fear of retribution, provides the decision-maker all the requisite information to make an informed decision. Indeed, it should be common practice for the decision-maker to solicit alternate opinions before he or she selects the path forward.
Key takeaways:
- Safety leaders should recognize that there may be less risky approaches to accomplishing the same goal that they might not have thought of.
- Safety leaders should solicit alternate opinions before they make their decisions.
- In the event of an impasse, it is important to have a mechanism to resolve the differences without fear of retribution.
- Sometimes, the most junior member of staff might have more relevant experience in the decision being made.
