Some words of wisdom from our former President (for a lot of us – especially in the open source world – still our President) – Dr. Abdul Kalam.

(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.