The young and their blind spots

Call me corny or unsophisticated, but I love this collection of jokes for kids compiled by Sarah Blakely as she zeroes in on “Astronaut Jokes for Kids.” Look at this list:

What did the astronaut say to his dentist? I’ve got a black hole.

What did the astronaut say when he saw a green alien? “Better wait until it’s ripe.”

What did the astronaut say to the doctor just before take-off? “Time to get my booster shot.”

What did the astronaut say to Saturn? “Give me a ring.”

What did the astronaut say to her boyfriend? “You rock my world.”

What did the astronaut say to the rocket? “You’re a blast.”

How do astronauts stop their spacesuits from falling down? “With asteroid belts.”

How do astronauts say sorry? “They apollo-gize.”

Author Tim Elmore in his latest book entitled: “The Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership,” talks about the blind spot and how it is not necessarily a negative thing to have. He applied his thesis to an actual story that involved space travel, astronauts, and NASA.

I find it interesting.

When Apollo 11 landed on the moon more than 50 years ago, Elmore says it was a NASA mission many had thought was impossible. It began with a speech by former US president John F. Kennedy who cast a clear vision of a lunar landing by the end of the decade. The US at that time was losing to Russia and the country needed a boost in its morals.

Volumes have been written describing how that vision catalyzed the NASA team in Houston. There was increased budget allocation that led to the introduction of new technology. New people were hired to  attain the lofty goal, and everyone and everything shifted into high gear.

Elmore says that in hindsight, the surprising discovery to the success of the lunar landing can be attributed to both vision and blind spots.

The average age of the control center operators was 27 years old. Many were even younger. Most had started as interns five years earlier and their job was to give tours of NASA, which forced them to know the precise function of each department. The 27-year-olds, just five years out of college, said it enabled them to succeed. Those associated with the project revealed that Apollo 11 was successful because young people were placed in key leadership roles. Their blind spots helped them push ahead when veterans would have probably pulled the plug during the spaceflight or refused to apply new initiatives because of their traditional belief that it would not work.

You get a big job with an important objective, and you do it. The young 27-year-olds  assumed this was how careers worked. Working in their favor was that those engineering and math majors were more exposed to using new computers in college at MIT. Since much of the other NASA staff were over 40 years old, they were less familiar with the new technology and even doubted it was ready for the moon landing.

The leaders at NASA saw a clear solution. Those with blind spots were placed at the control center. At the same time, the veterans were tasked with guiding their work. The young operators, many years later admitted in an interview that they didn’t know what they didn’t know, but audacity worked in their favor.

Just 13 minutes before landing, they almost aborted the mission. Not wanting to lose Neil Armstrong and his crew, a 23-year-old Jack Gorman, played a significant role in those vital minutes that kept them from aborting. Unburdened by old ideas and old ways, it was the young folks, with their “blind spots,” who came fresh and ready to solve new problems with new ideas and new methodology.

From business organizations to faith-based communities, it may be good to have the top leaders muster their young people and challenge them to participate in activities actively -- with the more senior and tenured folks providing guidance and encouragement in the process. Call it a “shadow board,” a “task force,” call it anything you want, but gather the young and creative people in the organization, challenge them to come up with creative projects, support them with funding and witness what they can do with their “blind spots.”

I certainly have them in my own little business, and trust me, the young people in my team have come up with some of the best creative ideas I could never have dreamt of because of their “blind spots.” And yes, one more thing; provide them with the funding too.

(Francis Kong will run his Level Up Leadership 2.0 Master Class Online in April 2022. For inquiries and reservations, contact April at +63928-559-1798 or and for more information, visit www.levelupleadership.ph)