Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity (ODEO) NASA Unity Campaign Updated August 27, 2019
Unity Campaign – Introduction What is It? In 2019, NASA will launch a campaign to unify the NASA workforce in working toward unified agency goals. 2
Unity Campaign – Goal Goal of the NASA Unity Campaign Power and propel NASA organizations and people, to focus and work together even more effectively, to accomplish NASA’s missions. 3
Unity Campaign – Objectives 1. Transcendence • Elevated and Expanded Focus and Mindset – from a focus on insular organizational and individual goals/interests/identities to a focus on common and superordinate agency goals and priorities. • Mission and Team above Self . “ Me ” “ We ” and “ Us .” • Rising above artificial constructs that divide organizations and people to focus on higher purpose: “Overview Effect”; Apollo 8 “Earthrise”; “Pale Blue Dot”; NASA Strategic Plan; NASA vision and missions (e.g., Artemis). 2. Connection • Enhanced Jointness and Connectedness between NASA organizations and people to strengthen bonds, trust, teamwork, and collaboration. • Jointness : the cooperation and integration of different organizations. • Connectedness : a feeling of belonging to or having affinity with a person, group, or mission. 4
Unity Campaign – Why Are We Doing This? • NASA has been ranked the “Best Place to Work” among large Federal agencies for 7 consecutive years. • NASA has also ranked number one among large Federal agencies in OPM’s “New Inclusion Quotient (the New IQ)” for each of the previous five consecutive years since OPM began using the New IQ – an index comprised of 20 FEVS questions that assess the inclusiveness of an agency’s work environment. • The Unity Campaign is NOT aimed at fixing something that is broken – it is a proactive way to reinforce our NASA culture and values so we optimize the effectiveness of our workforce and our mission accomplishment. • The Unity Campaign does NOT require new investments or activities – this is about doing the things we must do in a way that assures our missions, safety, wellbeing, and sustainability (including recruitment and retention of the next generation of talent); to share and scale practices across the agency ; and to be driven by employees as well as leaders, emphasizing organic behaviors . • This is not a one-time one-size-fits-all compliance exercise. Enterprise solutions will be developed and offered but AAs and OICs will have discretion and autonomy to decide implementation . 5
Unity Campaign – How Do We Know It will Work? The NASA Unity Campaign is based on: • Lessons Learned from Complex Federal Challenges (e.g., 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and multiple crises during FY 2010 requiring domestic and international coordination) • Benchmarking (e.g., Military and Intelligence Community, and private sector (belonging)) • Empirical Research (e.g., on conflict and collaboration, teamwork, positivity, employee engagement and wellness, loneliness, and organizational performance) • Alignment to NASA’s Current Missions • Approach and Lessons Learned from Past NASA Missions 6
Unity Campaign – Current Missions Transcendence and Connection NASA is positioned to provide American leadership . . . empowering industry and the international community to move off the Earth in a unified, collaborative way. This unified effort will inspire generations and change the course of history as we realize the next great scientific, economic and technical achievements in space. Now is the right time to move forward to the Moon. We will go with our commercial and international partners, and together we will go farther than ever before. -- Jim Bridenstine, Administrator Blog postings on March 11 and April 10, 2019 7
Unity Campaign – Current Missions Transcendence and Connection When we place the next humans on the moon in 2024, it will be . . . a very uniting effort that brings everyone together for this one moment in time that will be . . . monumental and something we can all tell our children and grandchildren about. [The Artemis open architecture] is a great opportunity to not just to get more providers domestically but all around the world, and have the United States of America lead a coalition of nations for a sustainable return to the moon. This mission — going to the Moon — unifies us all, across all Mission Directorates, in a way that is very positive. [The 2020 budget] enables us to get out of the gate with a good start, and to do it in a way where we’re not creating divisions inside the agency — where we actually get to be unified, as an agency moving forward. -- Jim Bridenstine, Administrator, at May 14, 2019 NASA Town Hall 8
Unity Campaign – Current Missions Transcendence and Connection The way to achieve our objectives — as we’ve seen from the past — is to focus. And I call that ‘burning a hole through steel.’ -- Jim Green, Chief Scientist, at May 14, 2019 NASA Town Hall 9
Unity Campaign – Current Missions Transcendence and Connection . . . we don’t just sit idly back and watch what the Science Mission Directorate is doing. We’re actively involved with them, learning everything we can, so when we get to that next more demanding step, we learned from that activity . . . how we structure ourselves, how we team, and how we work together. So we can continue to learn off of each other in advance, so we can continue to keep this drive, or keep this focus, on this goal of 2024. -- William Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, at May 14, 2019 NASA Town Hall 10
Unity Campaign – Current Missions Transcendence and Connection To make [the Artemis mission] happen, we’re going to need the entire workforce . . . and we’re going to need all of us pulling together — to figure out ways to break down barriers between us, to figure out ways to move and work together more efficiently than we ever have before. We need to figure out a way to use the whole of the agency. This is something that is going to need every Center contributing . . . you’ll also see us build inter-Center teams, where we can now have folks working from multiple Centers, all teamed together to work forward. . . . [for example,] the Commercial Landing Services Program . . . is pretty much a multi-Center activity, sponsored by a bunch of different civil servants that all come together to work on a project. -- William Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, at May 14, 2019 NASA Town Hall 11
Unity Campaign – Current Missions Transcendence and Connection One more method of ensuring focus is continual and open communication in context with what is going on . . . we give the responsibility and authority to our folks, and we support them get as they need but out of their way when they don’t need it. [Artemis] is a strong partnership with our NASA workforce, with industry, and with academia . . . what we find is when we have those partnerships together, we really strengthen the activities we do . . . -- Jim Reuter, Associate Administrator, Space Technology Mission Directorate, at May 14, 2019 NASA Town Hall 12
Unity Campaign – Current Missions Transcendence and Connection Great, history-making science of the type we do at NASA is a team sport, a deeply emotional affair. Exploration is about individuals with mistakes and deficiencies coming together and struggling, transcending their limitations to create something that is as close to perfection as it can be. -- Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, Blog Posting on February 15, 2019 [Commercial Lunar Payload Services for Artemis] — because this is where our thrust is, it has to have priority over others . . .we do the right things at the best possible speed . . . prioritizing them over all the other things that can really distract us. -- Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, at May 14, 2019 NASA Town Hall 13
Unity Campaign – Current Missions Transcendence and Connection [In the 1960s] . . . President Kennedy’s challenge was a timely, masterful distraction, it utilized the challenge of space exploration to unify our Nation and demonstrated the technical prowess of the United States . . . unity was essential to our success in the 60’s – one goal, one team. . . . I believe the most critical element we lack today is unity – across our country, our government, and within the space industry . . . there seems to be a lack of focus and prioritization of those that are explicitly needed to accomplish the mission . . . -- Gene Kranz, retired NASA Flight Director; testimony at July 9, 2019 Hearing by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, Subcommittee on Aviation and Space. 14
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