Giving Stanford University management responsibility for the complex Gravity Probe B project was an experiment that uncovered important lessons about NASA collaborations with university prime contractors.

To move the aircraft about on the ground, as well as to stabilize it during take off and landing, we needed to come up with a lightweight solution.

Under conditions of uncertainty and tight deadlines, project teams need to adapt quickly. When a quick response is required, cohesive teamwork becomes paramount.

Project managers must find the right balance between giving people the right independence (trust) to accomplish great things and providing the guidance to help them do it. Project management is a people industry. Gaining the trust of your followers will grant you more influence than any formal authority. Find a balance between giving people independence and providing guidance. Gaining the trust of your team will grant you more influence than any formal authority.

Trusting relationships are conducive to full and open exchange of information within the team. In contrast, when project parties distrust each other, they withhold relevant information and distort intentions, thus adding uncertainty to the project. Trust reduces the cost of planning and monitoring transactions between organizations. Dynamic environments call for dynamic management of project teams.

Respect people and you are much more likely to find they perform up to, or beyond, their potential.

Lack of discipline is a key reason project teams fail to meet their objectives.

Crisis situations, even though they may be undesirable, bring out the best in the best of teams. If results do not meet expectations, for better or worse, we have little choice but to see this as an opportunity for learning.