Prioritization Principle

Are you managing your day, or is the day managing you?

One of the most jarring and lasting memories of my youth happened on a cold January morning in 1986. I was in science class and our teacher had brought in a TV for the class to watch the space shuttle Challenger launch. My teacher had a particularly close connection to this launch because he had been one of the finalists for the Teacher in Space Project, which would send a civilian educator into space.

Just 73 seconds into the flight, the shuttle exploded, killing all seven crew members. The focus of the investigation quickly pointed to a failure of the O-ring seals used in joints not designed to handle the unusually cold conditions of that day. The contractor, Morton-Thiokol, took some of the blame, but NASA’s organizational culture and decision-making processes also contributed to the disaster.

It was only many years later that I learned of another finding. The investigation noted that certain managers involved in the launch had only slept two hours before arriving at work. The report acknowledged the danger of excessive sleep deprivation, stating, “The willingness of NASA employees in general to work excessive hours, while admirable, raises serious questions when it jeopardizes job performance, particularly when critical management decisions are at stake.”