'A Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure' - APJ Abdul Kalam

Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project directorof India's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Ourgoal was to put India's "Rohini" satellite into orbit by 1980. I was givenfunds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had tolaunch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together inscientific and technical teams towards that goal.By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As theproject director, I went to the control center for the launch. At fourminutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through thechecklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, thecomputer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that somecontrol components were not in order. My experts -- I had four or five ofthem with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations andthere was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched tomanual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything workedfine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellitegoing into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal.It was a big failure.That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof.Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am,and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world werepresent -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota[in Andhra Pradesh in southern India]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of theorganization, conducted the press conference himself. He tookresponsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked veryhard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the mediathat in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was theproject director, and it was my failure, but instead, he tookresponsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite -- andthis time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was apress conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, "You conductthe press conference today."I learned a very important lesson that day... When failure occurred, theleader of the organization owned that failure.. When success came, he gaveit to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come tome from reading a book; it came from that experience.