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Whether you’re delivering a project within a company or hundreds of millions of miles into deep space, the principles of project management and the qualities of a successful project team are the same, according to the project manager of the Mars Pathfinder program.
On July 4, 1997, the Pathfinder spacecraft landed successfully on Mars, completing a high-risk, complex mission that captured the world’s imagination and generated a number of important scientific discoveries. The mission also demonstrated that spectacular results come not just from technology but people — and it was this message that Brian Muirhead, project manager of the Mars Pathfinder program and chief engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), shared with attendees at the Delivering Project Excellence conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., in June.
Muirhead’s keynote speech, which included video clips of team members discussing their roles and key points in the project, is excerpted here in the form of an interview. Muirhead began by recalling a brief conversation with a senior executive who looked him in the eyes and said, “Brian, I want you take risk.” After a pause, he added, “but do not fail.”
Your team was given three years and $200 million to land on Mars — less than it cost to make the movie “Titanic.” Some said you wouldn’t even make it to the launch pad.
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