I've been reading the book Failure is Not an Option by Gene Kranz. Gene Kranz was the flight director for the Apollo missions, and came up through the Mercury and Gemini missions.
I recently read about the start of the Gemini program. At that period in history, NASA was building out its command center in Houston, re-locating the staff from Langley to Houston, and advancing the space program. The Gemini program was introducing more computers and automation than the Mercury program, along with being two-astronaut missions that were lasting significantly longer than any Mercury flights. The ground crews were having to learn new capsule systems, new launch systems, new computer systems, new networking and communication systems, etc. There was a lot of change and growth happening at that time.
The statement that resonated with me was how the ground crews brought new information into the team. Each controller (or set of controllers) was sent to learn about their specific systems of specialty. Many of them travelled to the manufacturers or labs where equipment was being created. When they came back to mission control in Houston, they taught the other controllers what they learned! It struck me that one of the most innovative groups in history had a culture of continuous learning and making others great.
The lesson I took from this passage is that innovation comes from learning and sharing what one has learned. Gene Kranz is clear that there was nothing perfect about how they got things together, but the team's desire to grow and learn was able to drive some incredible advances!
