How manage a FAILTURE

(Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at
Wharton India Economic forum , Philadelphia ,
March 22,2008 )
Question: Could you give an example, from your
own experience, of how leaders should manage
failure?
Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In
1973 I became the project director of India ‘s
satellite launch
vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3.
Our goal was to put India ‘s ‘Rohini’ satellite into
orbit by 1980.
I was given funds and human resources — but
was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch
the satellite into
space. Thousands of people worked together in
scientific and technical teams towards that goal.
By 1979 — I think the month was August — we
thought we were ready. As the project director, I
went to the
control center for the launch. At four minutes
before the satellite launch, the computer began to
go through the
checklist of items that needed to be checked. One
minute later, the computer program put the
launch on hold;
the display showed that some control
components were not in order. My experts — I
had four or five of them
with me — told me not to worry; they had done
their calculations and there was enough reserve
fuel.
So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual
mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage,
everything worked fine.. In the second stage, a
problem developed. Instead of the satellite going
into orbit,
the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of
Bengal . It was a big failure.
That day, the chairman of the Indian Space
Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had
called a press
conference. The launch was at 7:00 am , and the
press conference — where journalists from
around the
world were present — was at 7:45 am at ISRO’s
satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra
Pradesh in
southern India ]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the
organization, conducted the press conference
himself.
He took responsibility for the failure — he said
that the team had worked very hard, but that it
needed more
technological support. He assured the media that
in another year, the team would definitely
succeed. Now,
I was the project director, and it was my failure,
but instead, he took responsibility for the failure
as chairman
of the organization.
The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to
launch the satellite — and this time we
succeeded.. The whole
nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press
conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and
told me,
‘You conduct the press conference today.’
I learned a very important lesson that day. When
failure occurred, the leader of the organization
owned that failure.
When success came, he gave it to his team.
The best management lesson I have learned did
not come to me from reading a book; it came
from that experience . . .