Roger Forsgren on

Knowledge Management Lessons from NASA

Case Studies, Learning

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Roger Forsgren

Roger Forsgren served as the Chief Knowledge Office (CKO) of NASA from 2013 to 2021. As CKO, he led NASA’s Knowledge Management efforts, ensuring that the agency’s workforce had access to the critical knowledge needed for mission success.

He also served as Director of the NASA Academy of Program/Project & Engineering Leadership, internally known as APPEL, the agency’s education and training program in the fields of Project Management, Systems Engineering, Engineering, and Leadership Development.

Roger most recently is the author of the book, Lean Knowledge Management: How NASA Implemented a Practical KM Program, where he lays out the principles, tactics, and strategies he implemented at NASA during his tenure as the Chief Knowledge Officer.

Roger holds two Bachelors degrees, one in History from Georgetown University and one in Engineering from Cleveland State University. He also obtained a Masters Degree in Engineering from Cleveland State University.

This Episode is also available on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Anchor.FM

Selected Links

Connect with Roger

LinkedIn

Roger’s NASA Profile


Articles and Papers written by Roger

Lessons from Lincoln

The ICB: Recognizing and Rewarding Innovation

Developing the Technical Workforce

Unique Education & Workforce Development for NASA Engineers

The Architecture of Evil

Companies / Institutions Mentioned

NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Website

Wikipedia

APPEL Knowledge Services

The Butterfly Effect

Calculus



Lessons Learned Database

Lessons Learned Repositories (via APPEL Knowledge Services)

NASA Public Lessons Learned System

Werner von Braun

Saturn V

Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster

Apollo 11

Space Shuttle Challenger

Books / Show Mentioned

Books Recommended by Roger

Engineering and The Mind’s Eye – Eugene Ferguson

Paperback

Hardcover



Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking – Susan Cain

Paperback

Kindle

TED Talk

Additional Content

Lean Knowledge Management

Buy the Book

Lean Knowledge Management Helped Change NASA’s Culture and It Can Do the Same for Your Organization.

NASA suffered three human spaceflight tragedies and Lean Knowledge Management was a major tool that helped NASA management implement massive cultural changes.

Traditional knowledge management is too often regarded as overly complicated or a wasteful bureaucratic exercise, but Lean Knowledge Management can become a critical component for your organization to operate effectively, efficiently and safely.

Lean Knowledge Management simplifies the process by:

  • Clearly defining your organization’s key employees,
  • Filtering the enormous amount of internal “information” into “critical knowledge”.
  • Utilizing a myriad of resources to get this critical knowledge to the people who need it most – the very people that can make your organization successful.

Show Notes

On the relationship between the Butterfly Effect and a well-managed Knowledge Management (KM) Program [03:53 – 05:15]

On how KM Practices differ at a Large Organization vis-a-vis a Startup [06:00 – 08:09]

On the relationship between History and Knowledge Management [08:43 – 13:08]

On how poor KM practices result in the loss of Knowledge from a Historical Perspective [13:45 – 17:36]

On Academic Texts versus Blueprints [18:23 – 22:06]

Roger’s experience in running the Knowledge Management practice at NASA [22:35 – 25:27]

How Knowledge Management changes Culture [26:29 – 40:05]

On why Return-on-Mission-Success is a more powerful metric compared to Return-on-Investment [41:04 – 46:18]

Lessons Roger learnt when transitioning from the Liberal Arts to Engineering [47:02 – 54:15]

On the origins of the Lessons Learned Database [55:00 – 01:00:29]

On Cognitive Biases and how they affect Decision-Making [01:00:53 – 01:05:55]

On the Power of Good Documentation [01:06:44 – 01:10:53]

Thoughts on the Application and Impact of eLearning versus In-Person Learning [01:11:45 – 01:18:21]

Reflections on America’s Space Endeavours and Ambitions in Today’s World [01:19:35 – 01:23:34]

Advice Roger would give a Young Person at University today [01:23:50 – 01:25:54]

On Roger’s Favourite Books [01:26:00 – 01:27:02]

What ‘successful’ means to Roger [01:27:13 – 01:29:08]

Roger’s Dream Dinner Party [01:29:16 – 01:30:48]

The best piece of advice Roger has ever received [01:30:58 – 01:31:56]

A Guest Roger would like to see featured on ContraMinds [01:32:05 – 01:33:54]

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Roger Forsgren

Knowledge Management Lessons from NASA

Pooja Jauhari is the former Group CEO of VMLY&R India, and former CEO of The Glitch. Over her two-decade-long career, Pooja has worked with some of the biggest brands in the country and the world, and introduced powerful campaigns to society.

Pooja has worked with some brilliant people and has held important responsibilities over the past 20 years. She is the Founder of Seat At The Table, an unbiased investment and advisory initiative to invest in companies and people that are built on a purpose.

Prior to her appointment in the VMLY&R network, Pooja was the CEO of The Glitch, a high-performance creative company that has worked hard to create a workspace that is gender blind, inclusive and progressive. The Glitch was acquired by WPP, the world’s largest marketing communications company in 2017, and integrated into the VMLY&R network within WPP in 2020.

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