By Angelo “Gus” Guastaferro Why take responsibility for a major foul-up on a project outside your area of expertise that started before you were on the scene? Here’s one story that may answer that question.
By Gus Guastaferro Early in my career, just after I completed a special task on the development of the gas chromatograph mass spectrometer for the Viking lander, Viking project manager Jim Martin asked me to go to Denver to manage the day-to-day activities of the all-up systems test on the entire lander.
I managed the droning of the B47 to fly unmanned, and I had zero experience to take on that task. What I learned is the real way you acquire risk aversion: I was scared to death that I’d fail.
By Angelo (Gus) Guastaferro In 1977, I had just finished eight years on the Viking program, which was just a marvelously rich, fascinating experience, using the most up-to-date, sophisticated management techniques, under an outstanding leader named Jim Martin.
