To Launch or Not to Launch?
The Disastrous Launch of Space Shuttle The Challenger and Lessons Product Managers can Learn About Launching Products
The day was January 28, 1986, and over the public address system, you could hear the countdown around 11:38 am EST.
10… 9… 8…*…
3
2
1
Liftoff!
It was the first time in history that someone who is not an astronaut would be going to space. Sharon Christa McAuliffe was a high school science teacher but in the moments leading up to the launch of Challenger, she had become a star! She would be the first non-astronaut in space and she’d teach two classes from space!
In 1984, the then president of the United States Ronald Reagan announced a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program named “Teachers in Space Project” The project was designed to carry teachers into space and back. It was hoped that it would inspire students’ interest in space exploration as well as honor teachers.
Christa McAuliffe and the other 6 crew members were scheduled to fly into space in July of 1985. But some delays caused the flight to be delayed till November of that same year. Then more delays and the flight was postponed to January 22, 1986.
Weather conditions caused further delays. On January 27, the launch was set to happen. Christa and the other crew members marched onto the space shuttle waving happily at journalists and spectators who had gathered to witness the historical moment.
After the crew had settled in the shuttle, there was a problem with a bolt which caused the hatch not to lock. It took a team of technicians several minutes to fix; all the while wind speed at the launch site and other weather conditions were deteriorating. Finally, a decision was made to postpone the launch to the following day. So, the crew members were evacuated and returned to their base.
With all these delays, pressure continued to mount on NASA.
That evening a meeting of some top officials and experts was called to assess the situation and the possibility of launching in cold weather the following day.
To launch or not to launch?
The engineers advised against a cold-weather launch. According to them, the risk of something going wrong with the solid rocket booster was significantly high under cold weather. The solid rocket booster (SRB) provides about 85% of the thrust required to propel the shuttle at liftoff and for the first 2 minutes afterward. Then it is expected that the SRB would disintegrate and then return to the Atlantic Ocean for refurbishing and reuse.
“When do you want me to launch? Next April”? retorted the then NASA manager, Lawrence Mulloy.
The launch was scheduled for 9:38 am EST but was delayed by another 2 hours as icicles had covered a good part of the shuttle. At 11:38 am, the temperature was about 36 °F (2 °C). This is significantly lower than the 53 °F (12 °C) below which the engineers had advised not to launch.
About 500 people gathered at the Kennedy Space Center to watch the liftoff with millions more watching on TV.
This was the moment! Finally, a non-astronaut will be going up into space.
3…
2…
1…
Boooooommmm!
73 seconds later, a massive explosion rocks The Challenger.
The lives, dreams, and hopes of a nation have been shattered… May their souls rest in peace.
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Launching a product can, sometimes, feel like launching a rocket into space.
The uncertainty. The pressure to launch.
What can Product/Startup Leaders learn from the disastrous fate of The Challenger?
- Listen to the Experts
The engineers were clearly against the decision to launch The Challenger in cold weather. So, who should determine product launch timelines?
Engineering or Business?
Well, it’s a little like the chicken and egg situation and there might not be a right or wrong answer.
For the business, there is a need to launch now to start making money. But Engineers tend to want to build the best thing possible which, sometimes, makes them oblivious of timelines and the pressure to make money.
In my career so far, I have worked with amazing engineers who get the business side of things but they are rare!
My position is that if the risk is significant, listen to the experts.
Let’s assume you are a bank that is in the process of switching to a new core banking application. The CEO wants the switch to be done on a day that would coincide with the bank’s anniversary but the CIO (Chief Information Officer) wants it done on a later day to better prepare the team and ensure there are no data losses. If anything goes wrong, customers’ balances might be mixed up and this could result in both financial loss and erosion of trust in the bank.
This is a high stake situation. What do you do? Listen to the business or engineering?
I’d go with engineering in this case.
2. Allow Contradicting Opinions
Part of your job as a leader is to create an environment where diverse/contradicting views are welcomed.
When Lawrence Mulloy made the statement “When do you want me to launch? Next April”? he effectively shut down all views that contradict his.
Had he listened to the experts and welcomed different views, the disaster might have been avoided. Maybe.
Some years back, I had the experience of building a feature into our product that I was certain nobody would use. Myself and a few team members passionately argued that the feature isn’t needed and that the data we had suggested that customers would not use it.
We were essentially ordered to go ahead and build it. We did and just as we had predicted, nobody used it. It was the most useless feature I have ever built. It was killed a few years later.
Thankfully, it was not a matter of life and death like The Challenger but we wasted manhours and we may never be able to calculate the true cost of that.
As a leader, when you encourage diverse opinions when searching for a solution, you dramatically improve your chance of finding the right idea.
“You have to be run by ideas; not hierarchy” ~Steve Jobs
So, I’d end this piece with a question for you: to launch or not to launch?
