Seventh Forum of Master Project Managers

Masters Forum #7 took place August 18-20, 2003.

The program began with a get-acquanted dinner and Keynote Address entitled “Different Aspects of Program Management: Lessons Learned in Leadership and People Along the Way” by Lynda Rutledge, U.S. Air Force.

The participants jumped directly into the spirit of the Forum with two group activities. The first was led by coaching expert Dr. Gary Schuman from CDL Consulting, Izzy Gesell of Wide Angle Humor led the second activity entitled Ropes Course for the Mind: Enhancing Teams and Communication Skills.

The next day got off to a dynamic start with a Prototyping Storytelling Session moderated by Scott Tibbitts of Starsys Research. The topics and speakers were:

• Topic: Prototyping on the Global Hawk Project — Frank Larsen, NASA Ames Research Center
• Topic: Prototyping on the SAGE-III Project — Ed Mauldin, NASA Ames Research Center
• Topic: Smart Buying: Mission Control at Johnson Space Center — Steve Gonzalez, NASA Johnson Space Center

Jim Barrowman, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Retired), moderated a panel on Jerry Madden’s Project Manager Lessons Learned. Partcipants included:

• Marty Davis, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• John Hrastar, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Retired)
• Rick Obenschain, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The third panel of the day was moderated by Scott Cameron, Proctor & Gamble:

• Topic: Sisyphus and Project Management — Ken Lehtonen, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Larry Barrett, Orbital Sciences Corporation

The final Forum panel was moderated by Charlie Stegemoeller, NASA Johnson Space Center:

• Topic: SAMS-II: Decimation of a Project — Tom Sutliff, NASA Glenn Research Center
• Topic: Managing Exploratory Research Projects — Anna McGowan, NASA Langley Research Center
• Topic: Tough Decision Making in Tough Times: Biting the Bullet — Larry Goshorn, ITT
• Topic: Lessons Learned from the Ramaty HESSIE Project — Frank Snow, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Topic: Vehicle Development (X37) Under Cooperative Agreements: Don’t ever try to do that! — Susan Turner, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Additional speakers included:

• Topic: Four Dimensional Leadership, Total Risk Management — Technical, Programmatic and Social — Charlie Pellerin
• Topic: Full-Cost Accounting — Owen Barwell, NASA Headquarters
• Topic: Using Stories to Strengthen Our Intuition — Dr. Gary Klein, Klein Associates