NASA managers not sharing lessons learned, report says

Inefficient technology and a reluctance to discuss past mistakes are keeping managers at NASA from sharing important lessons with one another, according to a new report from the General Accounting Office. Although NASA requires managers to regularly share important lessons learned from past projects through an agency-wide database, only 23 percent of managers surveyed had ever entered information into the system, according to the report, "NASA: Better Mechanisms Needed for Sharing Lessons Learned" (GAO-02-195). NASA managers surveyed by GAO said the agency's database, known as the Lessons Learned Information System (LLIS), was difficult to sift through and failed to provide them with useful lessons. Managers are also too busy to submit data into the system and fear openly discussing past mistakes will put their careers at risk, the report said. "For example, one manager noted that, 'People are never rewarded for telling about how they screwed-up and caused a problem/mistake…. This will continue to be a problem until a way is found to allow and encourage people to talk about their mistakes without feeling that they are risking their careers,'" the report said. The cultural barriers "present a serious challenge for NASA and the agency may well be missing fundamental opportunities to share and apply knowledge toward future mission successes," according to GAO. LLIS, which was created in 1995 to help the agency with its mission to complete projects "faster, better and cheaper," does not automatically sort lessons and includes few positive lessons, the report said. One manager told GAO it took more than two weeks to search the database, which contains more than 900 lessons on the development and design of aeronautics and space systems. Managers do share lessons during project reviews, informal discussions with colleagues and training programs, but the dissemination of information is not nearly as broad as it could be, GAO said. "Respondents reported that they are unfamiliar with lessons generated by other centers and programs." GAO praised NASA for developing a strategic knowledge management plan last March that is designed to encourage managers to swap best practices and potential pitfalls. But it said the agency needs to appoint a leader to better coordinate efforts to educate managers on lessons learned and use storytelling and mentoring techniques more often to encourage people to communicate with one another. The report also suggested various upgrades to LLIS, including a better search engine, more positive lessons and a user feedback function. NASA generally agreed with GAO's findings and recommendations, noting that several initiatives to improve information sharing are already under way.