How leaders should manage failures

Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic forum , Philadelphia , March 22,2008 )

Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?

Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience.. In 1973 I became the project director of India 's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India 's 'Rohini' satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.


By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going 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 D hawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am , and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world were present -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India ]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed.. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.


The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite -- and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, 'You conduct the press conference today.'


I learned a very important lesson that day... When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure.. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.

You are wonderful.... For You son

The following story captured my heart. It happened several years ago in the Paris opera house. A famous singer had been contracted to sing, and ticket sales werebooming. In fact, the night of the concert found the house packed and every ticket sold.

The feeling of anticipation and excitement was in the air as the house manager took the stage and said, Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your enthusiastic support. I am afraid that due to illness, the man whom you've all come to hear will not be performing tonight. However, we have found a suitable substitute we hope will provide you with comparable entertainment.

The crowd groaned in disappointmentand failed to hear the announcer mention the stand-in's name. The environment turned from excitement to frustration.

The stand-in performer gave the performance everything he had. When he had finished,there was nothing but an uncomfortable silence. No one applauded. Suddenly, from the balcony, a little boy stood up and shouted, Daddy, I think you are wonderful! The crowd broke into thunderous applause.

We all need people in our Lives who are willing to stand up once in a while and say, I think you are wonderful.

And at times others are expecting this from you.

Are you telling them how wonderful you are . . .??????????

Say it now and make someone's day more pleasant.

The Letter for My Son

Yes, Mr. Nidhesh Tyagi, my friend at Pune Mirror sent me one of the finest gifts of life that one has as a father. It was loaded with emotions, expectations and vegaries of the bad world around us. I wish to thank him for the small gift that he gave to me. In these sufferring days, both physical and emotional pain of solitude, I wrote a letter to my son also.
I am sending the letter to him and someday the little boy will read the letter and try to understand what his father thought about him. I know he will read and will get confused as it is too premature for him to understand the complex ways in which his father looks at the world and also about the happennings in the world, but there will be a day when he will understand the meaning of this letter.
I told Nitn today/tonight that somehow this letter should reach him today and he should know the sensibilities and issues that his father is confronting/has confronted in life. It is not to make him scary about the world but to make him realize that life in not pink or rosy like theback ground of the blog on which I write about him.

Its After a Long Time Again

Yes, it has been a long time that I didnt write about him and how ur relationship is evolving. Today I am compelled to write about that as he has become naughty and in my absence is not listening to the mother. Brilliance is something and using the brilliance for something else is another thing. I had to shout at him today. He needs to understand that life is not black and white and he is not going to get all roses in life always. Its not his problem. he has been brought up in such a way that he thinks life is all roses. He never got a chance to listen to the struggle, pain and sufferring that I have passed through or currently passing. For him everything goes smoothly and there is no ups and downs, its always up and up. We were not like this as a child as we were sensitive to the ups and downs of our parents and we knew how to cut corners when there are troubles in life.
i think we are making a crime by not exposing him into the realities of life which are harsh and painful.
what do you think about this?

Why so many houses

He asked me this time as I was busy in finishing one of my house construction work in the hometown. He asked me how many houses do we have? At some point of time in life I had asked this question to myself (and not to my father, as we were scared of him)why we dont have a house of our own? why we dont have a decent living of our own? Yes, when I was in nayagarh, we had a very small house, may be 500 square feet house and six of us were living there. In Jatni we had an asbestos roofed house of same size and we lived there for long time, in puri, I had a decent house. So it was always a question, why we dont have?
Now my son asked me the reverse question, why do we have more than one house? The boy over hears my investments and asked this innocent question. It gave me a jolt but I understand that these houses are being made for him so that he can have a comfortable living and when required he can sell them and also plan something new. This is for him that I am making my life as a machine and building his future. I think every father does that and every father wants to see that the child is doing well before he dies. I think man can not beat death but tries to win over death by being a part in the life of his child. Thats how we become immortal.

How does the meaning of life evolve

Yah, thats the question I ask to myself whenever I think about my son. This little one is growing very fast and one day will grow so much that I will look like an old man in front of him as my father looks today. But there is a sense of pride that I bring to peopla around me. Will he be able to bring similar value system and success as I have got in my life. Does not matter... he should evolve as a good person, something that some people say i am not. But i dont mind because i alwasy wanted to be a good man. The world didnt take it in the right spirit. So for all those who are bad, i need to be bad and need to protect myself from them and sometime should pay them back in their own terms. He should not do that. He should not inherit that biting spirit from me but what will he do when bad people try to hit him? May be he will read my blog and will learn that it is necessary to be good in life but is also necessary to protect one's self esteem and respect and also fight for waht is right in life.. otherwise this is a very bad world and one wonders how good people will survive in this world!!!

Day-1, rather night-1

When I created this blog, my son was sitting with me and was smiling. He was reading what I am going to write on this blog. he is always sceptical about his father and also thinks that he must be an angryman. He imagines his father as a person who has no emotions and thinks that he does not like him which is wrong because he does not like him then whom does he like? Does he have a choice in life in anything? what was offerred to him in the platter of life he accepted that, the job, the family, the money and everything except of course his son whom he earnestly wished to have so that when he grows old and loses his vision, or ability to walk or even ability to speak, there will be his son.... will he be around or may be in a far far place with his girlfriend and family... but he loves him a lot and lot.. when will he grow up to understand these emotions .. will he ever grow up....to realize that every father sees his son as a hero who is going to take his name far ahead and above in life... at least his father did that for his grand father....