Over the years, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) has provided us with some spectacular moments—from Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon to the Hubble Telescope’s mesmerizing photos of distant stars and galaxies. As stated in NASA’s Strategic Plan, its vision is: “We reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind.” And its mission is: “Drive advances in science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality, and stewardship of Earth.”73 These have guided (and continue to guide) its management team as decisions are made about projects, missions, and programs. When the space shuttle program—NASA’s main project mission—ended in 2011, the organization struggled for a time with its purpose and identity.

In fact, one agency program manager at that time described NASA’s future as nothing but uncertainty. However, despite the ambiguity, NASA’s leaders have been charting a new trajectory.

Possible new goals include getting to an asteroid by 2025 and putting astronauts on Mars by 2030. (Here’s a bit of trivia for you: Mars is 225,300,000 kilometers—140,000,000 miles—from earth.) And critical to achieving these goals is the necessity to guide this complex, technical organization and figure out how to best manage the vast array of knowledge resources that are so crucial to its future.

NASA, established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, has led U.S. efforts in space exploration, including the Apollo lunar landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the reusable manned spacecraft—which we know better as the Space Shuttle. It’s a unique organization where equipment costs millions of dollars and where people’s lives can be at stake. Over the years, NASA has had many successful endeavors (and some tragic failures). Getting men on the moon, not once, but six times, reflects outstanding technological prowess, far superior to any other country. Being able to put a rocket into space with a shuttle that then comes back to earth and lands on its own is a reflection of the incredibly talented and knowledgeable employees that NASA has. Now, NASA is taking the first steps to develop new technologies and capabilities to send astronauts further into space than ever before. It achieved a major milestone in early December 2014 with the successful test flight of Orion, a spacecraft designed for ultra-long-distance journeys. Accomplishments such as these are possible only because of the people in NASA who bring their knowledge, talents, skills, and creativity to that organization. And “managing” those people requires an “organization” structure that allows, enhances, and encourages the sharing of knowledge.

It’s not an easy thing to design and do.

One word that aptly describes NASA’s organization environment is complexity. Not only is there technical complexity (yes, we are talking rocket science, here!), but also numerous projects are going on, change is an ongoing reality, and demands arise from numerous stakeholders both inside and outside the organization. And within this complexity, the challenge is finding a way to share the incredible wealth of knowledge within project teams and across the entire organization.

How is NASA doing this?

Knowing how important it is to manage the organization’s vast knowledge resources, NASA has identified knowledgesharing activities currently being used and others that are needed. Some of these include: online tools such as collaboration and sharing sites, video libraries, portals, etc.; a search engine that allows tagging and classifications (taxonomy); a library of searchable case studies and publications; an index of defined processes or “lessons learned”; knowledge networks of location “experts,” collaboration activities, collaborative workspaces, etc.; and forums, workshops and other social exchanges that bring people together. Through its knowledge management efforts, NASA administrators are showing that they understand how important it is for the organization’s structure to contribute to efficiently and effectively managing its knowledge resources.

Discussion Questions 

1. Would you call NASA a learning organization? Why or why not?

2. In what ways is NASA’s environment complex?

3. How does complexity affect structural choice?