Coffee chats jolt creativity for JSC 2.016 initiatives
2016-08-02
Big things are brewing for Johnson Space Center, like last year’s 5x2015 projects (originally dubbed 2x2015) and JSC 2.016 updated charter, and JSC Director Dr. Ellen Ochoa wants to make sure you are an integral part of the process. To help facilitate collaboration, Ochoa and JSC Deputy Director Mark Geyer are continuing monthly “coffee chats” with the JSC team. These chats started shortly after the initial launch of JSC 2.0 and have proven to be invaluable.
Sharing ideas is easier in an informal, tabletop setting in the Building 3 Collaboration Center, especially when the caffeine is flowing.
“I met with JSC managers to share our next steps for JSC 2.0, and I now want to share the plans and progress more broadly,” Ochoa said in a recent note to JSC team members. “This year’s efforts are being labeled ‘JSC 2.016’ to emphasize that our focus areas evolve each year. Based on discussions at our senior staff retreat earlier in the year, I named four senior leadership teams to develop action plans for JSC 2.016, which you can find on the updated JSC 2.0 website here.”
One team has already reinvigorated JSC’s mission statement, emphasizing our role in pioneering humankind’s presence in space after receiving valuable input from several focus groups. It’s now simply: “Lead Human Space Exploration.”
JSC’s mission priorities were also treated to a makeover to better reflect the center’s top goals:
• Maximize the use of the International Space Station,
• Enable the success of the Commercial Crew Program,
• Develop Orion for future missions, and
• Build the foundation for human missions to Mars.
Equipped with an improved roadmap, Ochoa and Geyer are now looking for a few—or maybe even a few thousand—good trailblazers to come onboard and share their thoughts on how to improve upon the progress we’ve already seen with JSC 2.0.
What do our senior leaders gain from these coffee chats? They get to hear real-time solutions and innovations, straight from employees on the front lines. Best practices and success stories will be collected and shared with the JSC community, too.
So, if you receive a surprise invite for a spot of coffee (or insert your desired beverage) and some chatter, don’t be anxious—be open. Each session includes a mix of about a dozen civil servants and contractors. It’s bring your own beverage, casual and welcoming. See you there.
Catherine Ragin Williams
NASA Johnson Space Center
Sharing ideas is easier in an informal, tabletop setting in the Building 3 Collaboration Center, especially when the caffeine is flowing.
“I met with JSC managers to share our next steps for JSC 2.0, and I now want to share the plans and progress more broadly,” Ochoa said in a recent note to JSC team members. “This year’s efforts are being labeled ‘JSC 2.016’ to emphasize that our focus areas evolve each year. Based on discussions at our senior staff retreat earlier in the year, I named four senior leadership teams to develop action plans for JSC 2.016, which you can find on the updated JSC 2.0 website here.”
One team has already reinvigorated JSC’s mission statement, emphasizing our role in pioneering humankind’s presence in space after receiving valuable input from several focus groups. It’s now simply: “Lead Human Space Exploration.”
JSC’s mission priorities were also treated to a makeover to better reflect the center’s top goals:
• Maximize the use of the International Space Station,
• Enable the success of the Commercial Crew Program,
• Develop Orion for future missions, and
• Build the foundation for human missions to Mars.
Equipped with an improved roadmap, Ochoa and Geyer are now looking for a few—or maybe even a few thousand—good trailblazers to come onboard and share their thoughts on how to improve upon the progress we’ve already seen with JSC 2.0.
What do our senior leaders gain from these coffee chats? They get to hear real-time solutions and innovations, straight from employees on the front lines. Best practices and success stories will be collected and shared with the JSC community, too.
So, if you receive a surprise invite for a spot of coffee (or insert your desired beverage) and some chatter, don’t be anxious—be open. Each session includes a mix of about a dozen civil servants and contractors. It’s bring your own beverage, casual and welcoming. See you there.
Catherine Ragin Williams
NASA Johnson Space Center
JSC Director Dr. Ellen Ochoa leads July's coffee chat. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Stafford
Coffee chats enable collaboration in an open and informal setting. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Stafford