Keep the Thing the Thing (More on SpaceX Versus Boeing)

It’s now official. 

SpaceX is gonna bail out the astronauts that Boeing has stranded. An eight-day mission stretched to eight months. 

NASA awarded both SpaceX and Boeing money in 2014 to develop private transportation to the International Space Station (ISS). SpaceX has successfully flown nine crewed NASA flights to the ISS since 2020. Boeing has yet to complete a successful mission despite reportedly going $1.5B over budget.

What’s the problem here?

There’s a host of issues, of course, but here’s a core pillar:

“Boeing, as we’ve all recently seen, is no longer an aeronautics company — it’s a profit company, the kind of business you get when MBAs hellbent on “efficiency” take over from the engineers.”

Quartz

Both SpaceX and Boeing’s cultures run on fear. 

Boeing’s culture runs on the fear of taking responsibility, of looking bad in front of the boss, of making a mistake that leads to reprimand, of losing control, and of stepping on toes. 

SpaceX’s culture runs on the fear of being unsuccessful.

Mouse poop versus elephant dung. Keep the thing the thing.