BOCA RATON, Fla.-No one knows risk management like NASA does, and one real-life "rocket scientist" urged credit unions to embrace risk if they want to innovate.
In fact, risk is one of the three pillars of creativity and innovation, according to Dr. Jeff Norris, software systems supervisor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.
"Make no mistake, you are in a mission critical industry," said Norris, a long-time member of Cal Tech CU, in remarks to CO-OP Financial Service's THINK 12 Conference here. "I'm entrusting my vital assets to you. Your first thought, then, is don't risk it, don't risk anything, but that's wrong."
The first pillar, he said, is vision, a point he illustrated with the story of Alexander Grahm Bell and the telephone, which started as a quest to fix the "problem" that telegraphs could send just one message at a time by inventing a telegraph that could send multiple messages. Inspired by a deaf mother and a father who invented visible speech, Bell's vision was furthered by a mistake due to a language problem in interpreting the work of German inventor Hermann Helmholtz. Bell thought he was trying to replicate and build off of Helmholtz's work when, in fact, he was plowing entirely new ground.
While others sought a way to simply "solve the problem with the telegraph," Bell had the vision to go in a totally different direction. That kind of thinking, Norris noted, frequently comes from a new player, rather than whoever happens to already be the dominant player in any industry or technology. "What we have to be asking is 'what's the next line,'" Norris said.
The Need For Agility
The second pillar of creativity, Norris said, is risk. When John F. Kennedy promised to put a man on the moon, most of the best and brightest minds working on the project believed in what was called the direct ascent method that required using a giant rocket-indeed the first unmanned rock to the moon was the tallest building in Florida at the time. Instead, John C. Houbolt suggested a different method, albeit more complex and risky: lunar orbit rendezvous in which two smaller craft would go to the moon once in earth orbit.
The third pillar, Norris said, is commitment. "Or actually, deferred commitment," he said.
"It's not just what to choose, but also when to choose," Norris related. "Keep as many options open as long as possible. In my business, we are often asked, 'how can I build this?' But the question we first ask is, 'How can I avoid building this? Risk is necessary for agility. Agility is necessary for mission criticality and creativity."
