73 seconds. That’s how much time elapsed before the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded after liftoff on January 28, 1986. The reality, however, is that this was a tragedy decades in the making. The lessons, and the risks, are just as applicable now as they were 40 years ago. The Shift During the Apollo missions in the 1960s and early ’70s, NASA’s posture toward risk was simple: we don’t launch until we can prove it’s safe to do so. Unless all systems were “Go,” the default was

What can two Super Bowl plays teach us about evaluating decisions?

"Go/No-Go" is a foolproof form of communicating clear directions. Until it isn't.

Previously, I shared lessons from the failed French attempt to build the Panama Canal. In this article: how the Americans nearly repeated those mistakes and what finally turned things around. President Theodore Roosevelt was enthusiastic about what a canal could do for America’s growth. "Make the dirt fly!" was his mantra, and he made sure everyone he appointed understood what was at stake. Unfortunately, his first Chief Engineer, John Wallace, took those words as literal mar