Life in Space
Terry shares stories from his seven months in space to give a front-row seat on a space mission from launch to landing. As the National Geographic Photographer who has taken more photographs from space than any other astronaut, he shares some of his eye-popping imagery to give a feel for what it’s like to look back at the planet, or out into the galaxy, while floating aboard the International Space Station.
The Importance of Innovation
Virts outlines how NASA going to the Moon was the culmination of several programs and missions—they couldn’t have had Apollo without Mercury and Gemini first. He uses this and other examples of a buildup approach and applies these lessons learned to other organizations, giving strategies for how companies must adapt, change, and create a culture of innovation.
Risk and Crisis Management
From rocket companies to investment banks, there are universal techniques to improve safety and risk management. The key is to have a culture that supports this from the top. Virts details how NASA performs risk assessments and how these can be applied in other scenarios and organizations. In addition to assessment tools, he talks about the culture and practices that are ingrained, approaching risk from a rational and statistical framework and not emotional, allocating resources accordingly, and paying attention to institutional history and lessons learned. He uses real life examples from his time at NASA to talk about how to accept and minimize unavoidable risks.
Leadership
Terry Virts shares his experiences from his fighter pilot days and space missions and applies them to the workplace. How ensuring the success of a team requires good followers as well as leaders, and how roles may change from follower to leader and back again. He talks about the importance of vision, goal setting, and the strategy to achieve those goals. He discusses scenarios and which leadership styles are best for each one (from directive to collaborative).
Why Organizations Fail
Based on a course he teaches at Harvard Business School, Virts discusses the Columbia and Challenger disasters and how the same mistakes were made by NASA more than once. He talks about the culture created within organizations—from communication styles and politics as well as ego and personalities and how to prioritize what matters. In the aerospace industry, there is always an indication that something is wrong before a crash, and this holds true for catastrophes in any business sector.
Our Beautiful Planet and Its Fragile Environment
Perspective on our place in the universe and our only planet, Earth. We have a beautiful planet, but there are serious environmental challenges that we need to meet. Virts shares a positive story about how his home on the Chesapeake bay was confronted with serious pollution in the 1970s, and how tough decisions have dramatically helped improve the environment there.