APOLLO 13 - Business Lessons

by Ike Sweesy

“Houston, we have a Problem”. Astronaut Jim Lovell’s words began a

living drama and a critical problem solution methodology that is used today in
business as it is in space.

On April 11, 1970, a roar of smoke & fire marked the blast off toward the
Moon of three Astronauts aboard their Apollo 13 spacecraft. Two days later, a
crippling explosion left them in a life or death situation. How would the NASA
astronauts and engineers fix their craft that was 250,000 miles into space
before the power ran out and the astronauts froze to death? The world held
its breath.

The 1995 Hollywood film “Apollo 13” graphically recounted the space mission
that became “a case study in problem-solving, a drama of solution-finding
played out with limited resources against unknown odds, using the wits of
two teams: the three-man flight crew in open space and the computer
operators on earth.”1

Though not an Astronaut, I was a fighter pilot and test pilot in the US Air
Force, and we also employed that effective Problem Analysis & Solution
Methodology in systems development & for airborne emergencies. I continue
to use this same methodology in businesses. One evening after I retired, I
was watching the “Apollo 13” film with my kids, and part way into the film I
leaped out my chair and grabbed a clipboard. We restarted the movie, and I
began scribbling furiously, and explaining to my kids just what we were
seeing.

I’ve summarized below those Apollo 13 problem solution principles as the

mnemonic:
“A P O L L O P R O B L E M” to help you remember them.
 The Problem Solving Method

A ASSIGN talented, capable, experienced, and effective people to Leadership,

Tasks & Projects.
You must have trained and responsible people, or you will jeopardize
any endeavor – in business or space. NASA had the ‘brightest & best’.

P PREPARE for the inevitiable problems that will occur with your equipment
and with processes, and oh yes, even with people. After all, we know that …
“Stuff Happens”. And whether flying through outer space or office space,
every endeavor will experience two Classes of Problems to prepare for:
• normal, ANTICIPATED problems due to the ordinary expected situations,
or the systems which have failed in the past. You should have already
developed, documented & trained with specific procedures and
solutions. But there is also a second kind,
• 2) new, UN-ANTICIPATED situations or system failures which have never
come up before, and for which there is no specific solution prepared …
yet. Apollo 13 experienced one.

But, even the ‘unknown problems’ can still be prepared for with capable
people, extensive system knowledge, and the proper problem solving
methodology.

O OUTCOME. When any problem comes up, you must define the
desired final outcome, "If you don't know where you are going, you
might wind up someplace else." - Yogi Berra

There are Three Outcomes to Problems:

1) Business as usual by following a documented standard procedural
solution to the problem. This reflects an efficient, successful
business. Or,
2) A new or adapted mission outcome. The 1st-ever explosion of
the Apollo 13 Oxygen tank was completely unforeseen. At that
point, the original mission to the Moon was scrubbed, and a NEW,
revised Outcome was to just return the 3-man crew safely to Earth.
And then afterwards,
 3) Corrections or ‘Re-engineering’ (a “feedback loop”). When
problems are solved, re-engineer or proceduralize the solution to
prevent or minimize future problems.

L LESSONS LEARNED. Previous failures and known weaknesses are very

valuable. They help develop more effective processes & identify resources to
prevent or handle re-occurrences.

• A feedback loop is essential to continually adjust and improve

equipment & procedures. After Apollo 13, subsequent space missions
didn’t have that Oxygen tank problem.
• Lessons Learned also include ‘Best Practices’ from Industry-wide
situations. Adapt them to documented processes with the specific
experiences (lessons) in your own company.
• Though not directly responsible for the Apollo 13 failure, ‘Error-prone
Processes’ cause the most trouble. Identify them by the common
mistakes, and correct the process.
• One of the basics with the space program was that everyone performing
(and managing) the tasks must have comprehensive knowledge &
training in Systems & Standard Operating Procedures. “SOP’s” are
essential for smoothly running businesses also.
And to ignore weaknesses or problems and to just ‘hope’ that things turn out
alright is “Business by Wishful Thinking”, and the business landscape is
littered with the resulting failures.

L LIMITATIONS. To be able to solve problems, you must know the existing

systems, but also the limitations of those systems.

• On Apollo 13, the limitations were Air to breathe, Battery power, and
Time. All of the ‘Metrics’ had to be measured and closely monitored;
and they were the driving force in the solution to bring home the
Astronauts.
• For Business, these limitations may be financial such as Cash Flow or
Capital; or time frames, or manpower, and any equipment or software
limitations. These will determine the Parameters that your solution
must meet.
O OBSERVATION. Once a problem comes up, Don’t Act - Stop and Pay
Attention! The details are very important. Sherlock Holmes never developed
‘theories’ until he had investigated all of the data. Neither did NASA. That
careful observation kept them from false lines of reasoning.

• Accurate, detailed & complete Observation is one of the most

important aspects of the problem solving method - and the one most
ignored. Many people will jump to conclusions from limited, incidental,
or misleading data, and this leads to wrong actions. But the NASA Flight
Director warned, “Let’s not make it any worse by Guessing.”
• You must observe all Symptoms & ultimate Consequences of the Failed
systems, but also the Good systems that are remaining. This
eliminates false trails. “Let's look at this from the standpoint of
'Status'," said Gene Kranz, the Flight Director. You mustn’t focus on just
the problem, since you’ll also need to maximize the good systems for
the Solution.

P PROCESS the Data of all that you’ve observed against your extensive
knowledge of the systems. Pump your brain & your Team using creative
thinking processes. Brainstorm. OK, it’s easy to say “analyze the problem”,
but How?

• The NASA team needed to create a replacement CO2 filter for the space
module, and they handled everything on the table. By using the
techniques below, they processed the problem “outside the box”, and
found an imaginative solution from the parts available on the
spacecraft.
• Flight Director Gene Kranz employed several aspects of the ‘Solution-
Process’ including: “Put your hands on it”. Write it all up on the
board. Discuss it. And also make non-standard uses of items or
processes. “Dump it all on the table”, Kranz said.
• Other solution process techniques include Visualization, worked out
Sequences, and even ‘Trial & Error’. Gene Kranz used a black board to
draw diagrams and flight sequences, and to make lists; Ken Mattingly
spent hours in the Simulator developing the minimum electrical usage
scheme; and the entire team put sequences together for every aspect of
 the problem. Crime mysteries like Sherlock Holmes demonstrate the
same techniques.
• With the use of these techniques, and today’s computer aids, we create
the solutions through our human Imagination.

R REVIEW ALL ASSUMPTIONS. e.g. the weight of Apollo 13 - they

initially overlooked that there were no moon rocks on board!

You don’t always recognize your ‘assumptions, however your business

‘metrics’ will reveal that something is wrong. Just maybe your
assumptions aren’t valid, and must be challenged and corrected. As the
ground crew evaluated the shallow flight trajectory of Apollo 13, they
questioned their assumptions. Then they realized that the actual
module weight was lower than ‘assumed’ due to the missing Moon
rocks. This ‘metric’ was critical, since the spacecraft would “skip off the
atmosphere”. Disaster.

O ONE BEST SOLUTION. Or even a workable solution from all of the

information at hand.

• Using “Observation” and techniques of “Processing the Data” above,

develop the Solution that works for your situation in the time frame that
you have available.
• And a successful solution must account for every ‘piece of the puzzle’.
The “exception” DOES NOT prove the rule, and if any aspect of the
solution contradicts the data or the situation then it must be accounted
for.
• But the Solution is hard work even for the imaginative; and it is arrived
at by observed details, excellent knowledge, flexibility to new
perspectives, and most of all – methodology.

B BLUEPRINT. Now write down in sequence all of the required

Actions for the solution.
Every step of the solution must be documented so that you won’t forget
a critical element. Both the NASA ground crew and the astronauts
wrote down the new Procedures and steps. Don’t “Wing It”.
L LEADERSHIP is essential in all “Project Management” problems.
Discouragement saps energy and hinders creativity, and a leader must
show confidence that his team will develop a solution using all of the
resources that are available. The leader’s own attitudes & actions will
rub off on the entire team to bring about success. Even when others
began to doubt because of the complexities & difficulties, Gene Kranz,
the Flight Director, was unswerving in his confidence that his talented
NASA team would return the Astronauts safely to Earth – “this will be
our finest hour.”

E EXECUTION of the Solution.

• Having developed and documented the One Best Solution, the whole
Apollo 13 team began to implement that complex solution Step-by-Step.
• But also, even in the midst of putting your solution into effect, you must
be attentive and responsive to follow-on problems, or even errors or
inaccuracies in execution. The final rocket motor burn wasn’t precise,
but they kept correcting the trajectory all through the burn, and it was
good enough.

M MOXIE. The whole flight & ground crew showed their Perseverance,
Determination, and Confidence - Regardless of the difficulties.
… Don't EVER give up. Don't EVER lose hope.
“Failure, my friends, is not an option.”

Astronauts and Business Professionals all encounter important & complex problems
requiring imaginative solutions and effective implementation.
That’s why it’s important to have the proper people assigned, to know how to
analyze problems,
and to find & implement effective solutions.

So even for business, use the ‘space-proven’

APOLLO PROBLEM Methodology.

Sometimes the life of astronauts is at stake;

sometimes the life of your company is at stake.

_________________________________________
1.“Failure is Not an Option: Apollo 13 Creativity”, Margaret J. King, Ph.D., #236 from R&D Innovator Volume
5, Number 9, September 1996. http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/201-
250/article236_body.html

*by Ike Sweesy, Ike@Company-V.Com. www.Company-V.Com,

www.FighterPilots.Net