2. Lesson: Plan Conservatively and Execute Boldly
The initial development program plan becomes the measure of progress. Since research and development programs are, by definition, not completely understood, good management will provide adequate reserves in time, resources, schedule, and performance. Once the program is underway, indecision costs time and money.
Background:
In the Skylab development effort, specific management attention was given to providing sufficient funding and schedule flexibility. There was no universal formula or criteria which was applied across-the-board, but the amount of cushion was determined by an assessment of the complexity of the task, the criticality of the function, how the development depended upon outside elements, the experience of the manager, and the degree of optimism/conservatism the manager had showed in the past. For critical, high-risk items with a normally optimistic manager, cost estimates were as much as doubled.
These lessons learned are from SKYLAB LESSONS LEARNED AS APPLICABLE TO A LARGE SPACE STATION, A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The School of Engineering and Architecture Of the Catholic University of America For the Degree Doctor of Engineering by William C. Schneider, Washington, D.C., 1976.
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