Developing a Missile The Power of Autonomy and Learning

Developing a missile: The power of Autonomy and Learning

Dr. Paul W. Richardson

Project Management Leadership

Developing a missile: The power of Autonomy and Learning

Vision statement

The overall research has been conducted with the sole purpose for the creation of the joint air to surface standoff missile. The main objective of the project is to undertake the necessary steps and make implements for the developments of the missile. The missile was designed for the destruction of the fixed and variable targets that is high ended and also well protected. The range of this particular missile that was designed by our team members is assured to keep the aircrews safe from the hostile air attacks.

Analyzation of the key actions taken by Terry Little to foster higher levels of performance:

The first challenge that was faced by terry little was to convince the team members and make changes in the way regarding the thoughts of the team members. He needed to bring changes in the perception about hoe the team members took into consideration about the reality. It was thought by most of the team members that the most important aspects of the job are the decision making process, conduction of the reviews and keeping control over the performance. But regarding the part of the work that was entitled to Terry Little, he was sure that the priorities must be given to the development of the collaborative relation, make alliances and generate confidence among the team members whom he is working with.

According to me, the above mentioned strategies that were taken up by Terry little, were actually useful. This is due to the fact that, while working with a team, the first thing that a team needs is to have a collaborative relationship. The actual meaning of collaboration is takingintoconsideration regarding the needs of the other person who is working along with the team. This includes the willingness to listen to the other people and it will be beneficial for the generation of a collaborative relationship if one is able to listen and understand the actual position of the other person and is able to provide logical ideas and solutions regarding the situation. Terry Little, who gave priority to the collaborative relationship was effective, because of the fact thatthe communication among the team members was now in a two way and thus there was the clarity among the team members. This ensured that, the other team members are able to understand what Terry little wanted to depict to them and this also encouraged them to ask questions and make conversations with each other.

Initially, while Terry was involved in the project, he took the analytical approach as he had a sound background in the research operations, but this idea did not work out very well as because calculations were not the only requirements forthe project. And, similarly, Terry had also faced difficulties regarding convincing his team members, that this project required something more than just calculations. But, Terry was quick to react to the situations and grabbed the fact, as he had experiences of previous projects. Thus, he started for the assembling of the people, who worked as the change agents for the project.

Another action that was taken up by Terry that led to the success of the project was the setting up of a goal within a certain period of time. And that short term goalhelped the team members in finding out the ways for the completion of the project within the limited period of time. As giving up was not an option for the members of the team, each and every person involved in the project had to think about an absolutely new set of strategies for completing the project within the defined time.

Recommendation of a new course of action:

Though the above mentioned leadership actions that were taken by Terry supported him a lot in the progress of the project. But Terry lacked one approach that was immensely necessary for bringing an overall change in the organization. That was a unified and involved towards the decision making process. Being a team leader, I would ask for the opinions of my team members before making an overall change in any systems of the management. In the management system that was taken up by Terry, the overall decision making process was autonomic and no other team members were actually informed before the implementation of any new rule or finalizing an agreement. If I was in Terry’s position, I would not have taken the final decisions without informing my other team members. This is due to the fact that, the autonomous management style, demoralizes the employees or team members and thus discourages to work efficiently in any activities of the project. Thus, for a complete new course of action, I would recommend that for taking the heteronomic management style. Because, regarding the decision making in any organization or any project needs the approval of all the members who are putting effort for making it successful.

The fallacies, consistencies and inconsistencies in Terry’s leadership tactics:

The fallacies:

The initial beliefs that were prevalent among Terry and the team members of Terry was that, it was the analytic and the calculations that we’re only required for the execution of the project. And it was also believed by most of the peers of the team that the major activities of the project involved the decision making process, the review conduction and keeping control over the performance of the activities of the team members. These beliefs made the task of the conduction of the project quite difficult for Terry at the initial stage and the actual procedure that was necessary for the project was not clear to Terry at the beginning.

The consistencies:

The consistent objective that Terry kept into consideration was for the empowering of the team members and make them united in working together as a team. Though it was a real problem at the beginning, but the team members started believing that it needs to be figured out how to continue working together for the successful completion of the project. Another important leadership strategy that was taken up by Terry was thathe wanted each and every member of his team to defend their positions. The reason behind taking up this strategy was to generate the fighting spirit and sheer determination among the personalities of his team members. And this proved to be beneficial also as the members grew the potential to stick to their point and never give up or surrender. The next factor that was essential for Terry was the mutual accountability and the sense of project ownership. This was important for Terry because of the fact that if each and every personnel who were assigned to separate jobs, thought only about their duty instead of caring the overall benefit of the project, then, a point would come that no one will care regarding the future prospect and the success of the project. Thus, as a project leader, Terry wanted each member of his team to have the feeling that the overall project is their responsibility too, and it is their duty to think of the whole benefit of the project instead of thinking about their individual performance only.

The inconsistencies:

The major inconsistency that was prevalent among terry was that, it was not possible for him to tolerate any team member giving up or surrendering for not being able to answer his questions.The first thing that terry wanted from his team members was that, to be able to defend their positions, whatever the circumstances are. By any means, the team member must fight for his/her ground. If anyone was not able to do so while answering Terry’s questions, he even did not hesitate to fire him/her out of the project.

Another inconsistency of Terry was that he did not treat the male team members the same way he treated his female team members. More latitude was provided to women than that was for men. And if any female team member was not able to perform her tasks well, the responsibility was taken up by Terry himself to compensate in the absence of her.

Recommendations for the changes in the leadership strategies:

If I was in the position of Terry, the first thing I would do is reduce the aggressive approach that was taken up by Terry. This is due to the fact that, the aggressive approach might be beneficial for the attaining of short term targets, but in the long run, if this is considered again and again, then it may bring failure consecutive times which will result in ultimate failure of the project. Any project management needs consistent and steady approach and understanding of the present environments and resources.

The next factor that I would consider changing is the inconsistent approach towards the team members. Thisis due to the fact that such drift of attention or inclinations creates discrepancies among the members which ultimately affects the overall goals of the project. This also hinders the progress of the project. Each and every team member must be approached equally and the benefits and punishments for their activities must be the same.

Three strategies for the improvement of the operational performance of the JASSM program

For the improvement of the operational performance of the JASSM program, the first thing that must be considered by the experts was the internal circuit system of the missile system. This must be given the first priority because of the fact that regarding any device, the main portion of the device is controlled by the internal circuitry and any fault in the circuits will, by default lead to the damage of the whole device and this in turn will make the whole project failure. This was not done in the case of the JASSM program which resulted in an absolute failure in the first attempt of the launching of the missile. In this scenario, the case of the China’s FJ ABM missile launching program may be considered. The missile program taken up by China was cancelled because of the circuitry faults which led to the malfunction of the device and thus the device was unable to take off.

The next factor that must be thought about is the cross checking of the internal circuits before making the final launch of the missile programs. The cross checking is important because of the fact that, regarding the electronic devices, there always remains a chance that faults can occur in the pre launching programs that may cause the failure of the total project. In the case of the JASSM, the failure in the first launch occurred because of the fact that the technicians and the experts did not double check the internal designs and the circuits due to the shortage of time. In this context there can be taken the example of the Aster 30 missile that was successfully launched by France. The mission was successful in the first attempt due to the fact that several cross checks were done before the final launching of the missile.

Another strategy that will be beneficial for the JASSM program to prevent the failure of the first launch of the missile is prototyping. The JASSM led the prototyping to be done by other companies, but if the organization would have taken the responsibility of the formation of prototype on their own hands then it would not have been a failure. It must be remembered that prototyping is actually a way of learning for the development of something. But most of the organizations fail to understand the fact that, following the guidelines and implementing the device according to the principle of the electronics is does not necessarily mean that the outcome of the project will be as expected.ThePrithvi Air Defense which is known as the PAD missile that was launched high altitude interception had a number prototypes that were built before the finagling he device for launching.

References

Kimberley Chan. 2013. Building collaborative relationships in Workplace.

Retrieved from: http://www.onedesk.com/2013/06/building-collaborative-relationships-in-the-workplace/

OHRC. 6 steps to create organizational hange. Retrieved from: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/human-rights-and-policing-creating-and-sustaining-organizational-change/6-steps-create-organizational-change

Cristina Silva and Seth Robson. 2012. Technology enabling US to build improved missile defence systems. Referred from: http://www.stripes.com/news/technology-enabling-us-to-build-improved-missile-defense-systems-1.200676

Lockheed Martin. Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile.

Retreived from: http://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/uwcpl/ch01.pdf