5 insites from class 1-11-07

1. Who's to Blame? In our culture blame and fault are considered unacceptable which causes fear in most if not all, of us. we do not want to accept the consequences for our failures. We must learn to take the blame when it is truly our fault. It's hard but it's part of life.

2. Nick talked about how NASA seemed to care more about results rather then the people and how that can cause problems. but if companies focus on the people they will have more success and also receive their desired results. this is an important concept for everyone to learn because it goes back to the trust others have in you. if people believe that you truly have their best interest in mind, stronger and more successful relationships will develop.

3. I really liked how Nikki talked about one of the strengths in NASA's communication setup. i think that it's important to find the good along with the bad when trying to fix a communication system.

4. "94 (or 96) percent of all problems come from systems, not the people." i really liked this quote because it's true. Problems caused in many organizations weren't caused by people, but by poorly developed systems. For example, many of the problems that were caused in both the Challenger and Colombia disasters were made worse because no one really knew who they were supposed to talk to so messages did not get to where they needed to be.

5. I really liked what Covey said about how even though most problems are caused by systems, people create those systems. this goes back to accepting responsibility for mistakes. it also shows how most problems are avoidable if glitches in the systems are taken care of as soon as they are discovered.