W. Henry Lambright

In October 2020, three former NASA administrators—Dan Goldin, Sean O’Keefe, and Charles Bolden—convened with the then incumbent, James Bridenstine, to ponder the state of NASA and human space exploration. Goldin (1992-2001) chafed at the slow pace of returning to the Moon and going on to Mars. He pointed out that China was “moving at the speed of light” and it was “damn time for America to get people out of Earth’s orbit.”

This report continues the IBM Center’s long interest in leadership, transformation, and the use of innovative public-private partnerships. It explores how NASA leaders have leveraged public-private partnerships to replace the space shuttle, while developing new policy mechanisms to enable private companies to take over cargo and astronaut transport to the International Space Station (ISS). The author focuses on the evolution of this

In Robert Gates, former secretary of defense, and Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, Professor Lambright has identified two outstanding government leaders who both led transformation initiatives in their organizations.

President George W. Bush told NASA to return to the moon and prepare for manned exploration of Mars. The man he put in charge, Michael Griffin, was a certified rocket scientist with a passion for manned space exploration. In the four years he served as NASA Administrator, Griffin was continually forced to make controversial financial tradeoffs that brought him into conflict with constituencies who disagreed with him. He did, however, make significant progress in redirecting NASA toward the new Moon-Mars program.

Recent years have seen an increase in cross-agency research and development projects. These initiatives are large and significant in national policy. They include: information technology, nanotechnology, climate change, global change, and bioterrorism. For example, global change has grown to involve eighteen federal agencies and departments, including entities within the executive office of the president. The aim of these and other interagency programs is to draw on the special skills of each organization and weave them into a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.

This report reviews the history of management of the National Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health, the federal government's largest science project since the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Apollo Project. The Human Genome Project involved scientists around the world "working around the clock" for over 15 years. The study focuses on Project Director Francis Collins, who has overseen the successful completion of several of the Genome Project's goals.

This report describes the tenure of Sean O’Keefe as administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The report describes how O’Keefe faced three difficult challenges during his three years at NASA. His first challenge was to solve the space station’s financial mess. His second challenge was to manage the aftermath of the Columbia shuttle disaster. His third challenge was to steward the President’s 2004 vision for the further exploration of space.

This report provides a case study of a leading change agent, Daniel Goldin, Administrator of NASA. Goldin has been a change agent in an extremely austere and political environment. The study examines how Goldin initiated and carried through an organizational change process. Specifically, the report discusses how Goldin met his goals, where he fell short, and the lessons learned from his strategies and approach to change. Organizational Transformation