NASA told to focus on 'better,' not 'faster' and 'cheaper'

"Faster, better, cheaper," the management motto that has governed NASA projects since the early 1990s, needs to place more emphasis on "better," a report released Monday said.

Last year, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin asked former Mars Pathfinder project manager Tony Spear to lead a review of the faster, better, cheaper approach to find out if it is still working in the field.

Spear and his team concluded that too much emphasis on cost constraints and schedule deadlines has hurt NASA project quality.

"We need to slow down some, not rush too quickly into important programs and projects, plan and implement them more carefully, and move away from fixations on cost and near-term gain," the report said.

Arbitrary cost caps and time frames lead project managers to cut corners, the report said. Careful up-front planning and built-in flexibility to change a mission's scope as needed would make projects less risky and more realistic.

"No mission before its time," should be the new motto for NASA projects, the report said.

In keeping with today's results-oriented government, the report listed ways to measure the value of the faster, better, cheaper approach. Suggested measures included mission success rate, reductions in the cost of spacecraft and launches, the number of scientific papers published, and the degree to which the public is excited and involved in space missions.

NASA is facing the same challenges in personnel management that are plaguing many other federal agencies. The agency's future depends on acquiring and keeping good people to plug the talent drain resulting from recent downsizing and a projected increase in retirements, the report said. Training and mentoring are increasingly important in the new environment.

Technology is the other key ingredient to the success of future NASA projects, according to the report. Among the report's suggestions were yearly awards for best "out of the box" technology ideas, and the establishment of headquarters-level technology and information leadership offices.