(music)
I used to be the Range Commander of the launch range down at Wallops.
And one of the big problems you have when you’re trying to launch a rocket,
is you have to get the ships, all the boats out of the way
and clear the surveillance area. It’s called the surveillance area, it’s this area
in front of the rocket that’s got to be cleared. The people that are out there
are boaters their fisherman, their ship
captains, it’s a different population then the traditional NASA crew.
And for years we had interfaced with
those, with the boat captains through our Mission Control Center
in a very formal and rigid way and it quite honestly it wasn’t
very effective. We had a mission coming up an it was really important
for us to get this mission off on time and,
and in thinking about how to speak with
these boat captains on the day of launch we hit on the idea
of instead of using our normal crew, we reached into the local population
and there was a young women and
she spent all her life on the water growing up, she
knew most of these boat captains. So, what we did was we brought her onto
the Mission Operations team and on launch day she
was able to interact one on one with these boat captains; she knew
most of them by name. She was able to explain to them what we were doing
and why it was important for them to move and that if they could just
go to these safe areas it wouldn’t take long and they would get a great
view of a rocket launch. We never cleared a range as quick as we did that day
And we were able to get that shut off, and from that point forward we included her on the
ops team. We never would of thought of that if we had stuck to the traditional way of
doing business but because we brought somebody else
onto the team, somebody that had a very different perspective
and a different background that was a big success and something that lives on
to this day in the way that range operates. Hi I’m Jay Pitman and I’m the
Assistant Director for Strategy on Integration here at Goddard.
(music)That does D&I and EEO mean to you?
To me D&I done right
means that we’re bringing the whole
force of the amazing workforce at Goddard to bare on the
problems that we have on the things we’re trying to accomplish.
It means that we’ve, that we’ve got the right
mix of people here to give us every possible perspective
on the challenges that we face and it means
that we’re including them in the solution of those problems. So,
it’s two parts really, it’s sort of like my spice cabinet at home. I enjoy cooking
and I’ve got a great spice cabinet and what that means is;
and its diverse, it’s got a lot of different spices in it
but until I take those spices out and put them in the soup I’ve not really done anything,
I’ve not changed the soup. So our job here is to make
sure that we have many perspectives, many
skills, many capabilities but more than that, that we actually
engage them in the solution of the problems
that we’re trying to solve for this agency and this nation.
(music) AS a senior leader what is the value of D&I and EEO in your role?
As aa senior leader what is the value of D&I and EEO in your role?
As a senior leader what we have to do is we have to demonstrate
the example that we want the center to follow.
That means making sure that our teams are sufficiently
diverse and inclusive to bring the full force of the Goddard
workforce to bare on the problems that we’re trying
to solve and that’s especially important for the technical challenges
that we have. The problems that we approach as a center
are problems that essentially humanity
has yet to solve; there the hardest problems that there are. So
we need the very best of all of us. And it’s our jobs
as leaders to make sure that the very best of all of us is in the
the room when we’re trying to solve those problems.
(music) What role do you play in Goddard’s D&I and EEO efforts?
One of the things that I really enjoy is getting out
of my office, getting out of Building 8 and
being engaged with the people who work here. I’m always amazed by
what I find and I think that the face to face contact with
our people is one of the most rewarding
things that I get to do.
Our leadership team has a lot going on to run a ten-thousand-person
person center is a huge job and so it’s hard to
find the time, but I think that’s one of the things that I can
do is I can find that time and get out and interact with people where they
are and understand where their challenges are that
day, and to see the kinds of
places where their involvement would strengthen
what our center is doing.
(music) Why do you participate in Goddard’s D&I and EEO efforts?
Every leader quickly
realizes that they’re not the ones doing the work.
What you realize as a leader is, that it’s
the people that do the work and it’s your job to maximize
what they can bring. I make an effort every month or so
to get together with the NDP group just to hear what’s, what are
their concerns. What do they see as the opportunities that we’re not
taking advantage of or the barriers that might be not visible
to those folks who have been here for longer periods of time.
Those are some of the most energetic and delightful conversations that I have
and they give me a great perspective into the
additional skills and energy that, that group can bring
to bare for our center. If I can help facilitate that kind of
energy on behalf of what we’re trying to do for NASA,
that’s like a dream.
(music) What is one thing you would like to share about D&I and EEO?
The one thing I’d like to share with the Goddard community about D&I
is that listening probably matters
more than talking and questions, honest questions
questions probably matter more than
the answers. So ask question of your co-workers,
they have so much to bring and then, and then listen.