The Right Kind of Crazy: A True Story of Teamwork, Leadership, and High-Stakes Innovation

ISBN: 1591846927

Author: Steltzner, Adam

Condition: Used

From Adam Steltzner, who led the Entry, Descent, and Landing team in landing the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars, comes a profound book about breakthrough innovation in the face of the impossibleThe Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is home to some of historys most jaw-dropping feats of engineering. When NASA needed to land Curiosity-a 2,000-pound, $2.5 billion rover-on the surface of Mars, 140 million miles away, they turned to JPL. Steltzners team couldnt test their kooky solution, the Sky Crane. They were on an unmissable deadline, and the world would be watching when they succeeded-or failed.At the helm of this effort was an unlikely rocket scientist and accidental leader, Adam Steltzner. After barely graduating from high school, he followed his curiosity to the local community college to find out why the stars moved. Soon he discovered an astonishing gift for math and physics. After getting his Ph.D. he ensconced himself within JPL, NASAs decidedly unbureaucratic cousin, where success in a mission is the only metric that matters.The Right Kind of Crazy is a first-person account of innovation that is relevant to anyone working in science, art, or technology. For instance, Steltzner describes:How his team learned to switch from fear-based to curiosity-based decision makingHow to escape The Dark Room-the creative block caused by fear, uncertainty, and the lack of a clear path forwardHow to tell when were too in love with our own ideas to be objective about them-and, conversely, when to fight for themHow to foster mutual respect within teams while still bashing bad ideasThe Right Kind of Crazy is a book for anyone who wants to channel their craziness into creativity, balance discord and harmony, and find a signal in a flood of noise.