Management Perspectives

Millions of people across the globe witnessed the successful soft landing of the Vikram Lander of Chandrayaan-3 on August 23, 2023; the event also became the most watched YouTube live ever. Te perfect touchdown positioned India as the first nation to reach the South Pole of Moon. This scientific and technological achievement of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has elevated self-esteem and scientific temperament of millions of Indians cutting across the boundaries.

ISRO had its humble beginning with the launch of an assembled Nike Apache sounding rocket way back in 1963 after the establishment of Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962. Since then, ISRO has been making relentless efforts to master the closely guarded space technology, resulting in many successes for the country in the domain of space science and technology. Chandrayaan-3’s soft landing is a technological feat that cannot be attributed to just a single individual or a small team. The TV newsflashes of Chandrayaan-3 soft landing showing jubilant scientists and engineers indicates the commitment and involvement of large team spread across ISRO centres. I present the following management lessons based on my reflections as a practising HR person.

• Shielding team during failure

The great leaders do not expose the team at the time of failures as it demoralise and demotivates them. The same thing happened during the failure of the soft landing of Chandrayaan-2 mission. The media filled with the iconic picture of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi consoling the ISRO chief, Dr K Sivan. The team was not exposed to the public at that time. However, the team was introduced to the media at the time of success of Chandrayaan-3 mission. This episode was a perfect example of team management and strong leadership. Both the political and organisation’s technology leaders demonstrated impeccable leadership quality at the time of crisis. It resonates with Dr Abdul Kalam’s narration in his book about his personal experience with Prof Satish Dhawan during the failure of ISRO’s first satellite launch vehicle mission (viz., SLV-3) and its success in the subsequent year.

• Acknowledging contributions of significant others

Media briefing is customary at the end of every space flight mission. It is generally seen that the chairperson will brief the media followed by addresses of few project executives and centre directors. In the same tradition, the chairperson of ISRO faced the media after the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 lander craft. After few initial statements, he introduced project executives with excitement and invited them one by one to address the media present there. In the end, he continued his vote of thanks by acknowledging contributions of many others including superannuated senior officials of ISRO. It reflects the familyorientation of ISRO’s cultural fabric and the secret of success in a public-funded R&D organisation.

• Achieving the success by embedding learning from failures

Supporting honest/novel failure breeds success and tolerance for failures promotes innovations. The pioneering leaders of ISRO made a strong foundation of its so-called ISRO culture. Failures have been regarded as a learning platform at ISRO. Failures have been accepted openly, but are also subjected to threadbare analysis and reviews to avoid repetition. The learning from failures of SLV-3 and ASLV propelled the success of subsequent PSLV mission. In tradition of this great ISRO culture, Chandrayaan-2 team also carried out minor modifications in the system and continued with its untiring efforts through rigorous failure analysis. The team thus ensured the success by conducting thorough testing of all its constituent elements and incorporating lessons learnt from the Chandrayaan-2 lander failure. This is another important lesson in managing R&D team and project besides building a learning ecosystem.

• Managing constraints through innovation

The historical soft landing touchdown happened on August 23, 2023 after the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 satellite on July 14, 2023. ISRO had taken more than 40 days to reach Moon. None of the ISRO launch vehicles have the capability to reach moon directly in lesser time like its counterparts in USA, China, or Russia. This obvious constraint was managed by adopting an innovative approach through a series of orbit raising manoeuvers. The same technique was exercised during Mars orbiter mission as well. ISRO was under ban on the access of advanced space technologies from the developed countries and still, it managed in developing indigenous technology through due diligence and great innovation.

• Promoting commitment through nationalism

It was moment of great anxiety for the team members after the experience of Chandrayaan-2 mission. Associate Project Director of Chandrayaan-3 mission made the above statement in her media address. Thus, it reflects the strong commitment of the team members associated with the mission. Public-funded organisations suffer from multiplicity of high goals, lesser commitment and procedural discretion. However, ISRO has surpassed all such limitations by embedding national interests in its programmes.

Conclusion

R&D professionals are generally different from others. They are highly qualified and prefer autonomy, freedom, and respect. Millennials have different orientations and expectations. Probably, the above-narrated reflections might be useful to practising managers in managing big R&D projects and talented team members.