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Lessons from Bay of Pigs and Apollo 13

The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 was a failure due to ineffective planning and decision making. Teams developed only one solution without considering alternatives and did not prepare contingency plans. In contrast, the failed Apollo 13 moon mission in 1970 was successfully resolved through effective problem solving. Under pressure, NASA director Gene Kranz led teams using different leadership styles to simulate scenarios, think creatively, and improvise a solution to return the astronauts safely back to Earth.

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432 views8 pages

Lessons from Bay of Pigs and Apollo 13

The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961 was a failure due to ineffective planning and decision making. Teams developed only one solution without considering alternatives and did not prepare contingency plans. In contrast, the failed Apollo 13 moon mission in 1970 was successfully resolved through effective problem solving. Under pressure, NASA director Gene Kranz led teams using different leadership styles to simulate scenarios, think creatively, and improvise a solution to return the astronauts safely back to Earth.

Uploaded by

api-25888404
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

A Perfect Failure:

The Bay of Pigs

I ff ti teams
Ineffective t

Generate incomplete Seek or design only one


problem statement & alternative solution
objectives

1
Do not reconsider Poor seekers
P k &
potential solutions generators of
rejected during group information
deliberations

Ineffective problem Do not examine risks


solvers associated with chosen
alternative solution

2
F il to
Fail t develop
d l contingency
ti A Success-
plans ful Failure:
Apollo 13

Things to watch for Kranz s use of wide range of


Kranz’s
leadership styles

3
Decision making under Successful treatment of
pressure and speed of disturbance problem with
decision making failure of #5 engine

Loss off electrical


L l t i l power
treated as a disturbance
problem.

4
5
Eff ti teams
Effective t Focused on working
on the problem

Realit sim
Reality simulation
lation Common sense

6
Support from others Clear, elevated goals

Out-of-the-box
Out of the box
Improvisation
thinking

7
Apollo 13 shows us
h
how good d decision
d i i
making can turn a
dismal failure into
success

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