People, projects, and organisations are engaged in missions. The word denotes purpose, meaning, and social impact. This session explores six factors – learning, knowledge, teaming, global collaboration, culture, and story – that promote a smart mission.

1. NAVIGATING THE FUTURE OF WORK
IKNS 5990 The Smart Mission: Living in a World of Intangibles
Dr. Ed Hoffman

2. 2
Agenda Themes
1. Living in the intangible economy – how we got here and what it means
2. Meaningful missions - micro, macro, global
3. The Smart Mission – Six dimensions that matter
4. Interactive discussion – what does the smart mission look like in your
organization?
5. Implications

3. KEY THEMES FOR THE FUTURE OF WORK
AGILE
LIFETIME LEARNING
RISE OF AUTOMATION/AI
FREELANCING & GIG
INCLUSION & APPRECIATION
Talent Triangle ©PMI; Skills list: PwC 20th CEO
Study, 2017
ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY
TEAM-BASED OUTCOMES

4. Big shifts/ What’s changed or is changing?
What really matters?
Losses and gains
Future implications
Other notes
Take time:

5. 5
Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous
competition
customer demands
supplier constraints
market conditions
geopolitics
changing regulations
What is constant in a VUCA world?
Leading in a VUCA World

6. 25 February 2022
6
VITAL, JPL NASA Academy International Space Station
MICRO = Technical MACRO = Technical, Social GLOBAL = Technical, Social, Political
Hoffman, E.J., Kohut, M., & Prusak, L. 2022. The Smart Mission: NASA Lessons for Managing Knowledge, People, and Projects. MIT Press.

7. Three Models for Project-based Organizations
Product
Problems
Technology
Cost
Schedule
Customer
Knowledge
Need
7
One-and-only
Novel
New/invented
Life cycle
Project completion
Involved at inception
Innovation+limited
production
Scalable manufacture
Measurable
R&D>innovate
Lean or agile>improve unit
Productivity rate
Involved at point of sale
Innovation+continuous
improvement
Permanent beta
Hackable
MVP
Zero marginal
Iterative
Involved in testing
Bootstrap+ innovation
The Smart Mission
Hoffman, E.J., Kohut, M., & Prusak, L. 2022. The Smart Mission: NASA Lessons for Managing Knowledge, People, and Projects. MIT Press.

8. THE
SMART
MISSION
Knowledge
Global
Collaboration
Teaming
Learning
Culture
Stories
Can you envision changing
the culture of an
organization?
How would you define the
organization your culture
has?
How do you design teams to
optimize performance and
well-being?
How does your organization
promote learning at the
enterprise, team, and individual
levels?
What's your organization's
story?
Does your organization use
stories to promote success?
Does your organization take
advantage of all the benefits
collaboration could bring with
external partners?
Does your organization really
understand what knowledge is, and
does it take steps to use it effectively?
Characteristics of the Smart Mission
Hoffman, E.J., Kohut, M., & Prusak, L. 2022. The Smart Mission: NASA Lessons
for Managing Knowledge, People, and Projects. MIT Press.

9. The Smart Mission: Knowledge

10. 25 February 2022
Presentation Title
10
Mission
the aims and values of a
company, organization, or
individual.
The Smart Mission
“A smart mission recognizes that
few things go as planned, and
that both learning and
unlearning are essential…(above
all, it values people…”
Photo by History in HD on Unsplash
Hoffman, E.J., Kohut, M., & Prusak, L. 2022. The
Smart Mission: NASA Lessons for Managing
Knowledge, People, and Projects. MIT Press.

11. The Situation: Think about a project you were on that
faced a significant challenge/problem. What led to
success? What led to problems?
Take Time - Tell Me a Story
What are critical capabilities for leading projects?
-What capabilities are in ample supply in your organization?
-What core capabilities do you worry about?
-Where do you find them?

12. 12
Leading behaviors for high
performance projects
1. Knowledge
• Profoundly social
• Minds of people
• Critical mission
knowledge
2. Learning
•Interdisciplinary
•Signature behaviors
•Create Frameworks
•Thinkers, makers, doers
3. Stories
• Reflective leaders
• Non-obvious knowledge
• “My best mistake”
Photo by Product School on Unsplash
4. Teaming
• Gratitude and purpose
• Understanding role clarity
and task ambiguity
• Rapid Prototyping
5. Culture
• Psychological safety
• Respect sub-cultures
• Conversational
5. Collaboration
• Create Frameworks
• Rapid Prototyping
• Define Success