Moonshot management

Organizational structure. Webb defined the main task of leadership as “one of continually organizing and reorganizing, directing and redirecting diverse human and material resources and complex activities under conditions that always contain elements of uncertainty.” To this end, he ordered four major reorganizations at NASA during his eight-year stint as administrator.

In 1961, in order to unite NASA around the common objective of a lunar landing, Webb transformed the hitherto decentralized agency, adding five new program offices, which, together with existing field centers, would all report directly to the leadership triad. In 1963, as the organization coalesced around its mission, Webb again reorganized NASA — this time giving the field centers more power and having them report to the program offices. In 1965, he reorganized NASA once more, creating an Office of the Administrator that had a larger functional staff to help the leadership triad manage the demands of the much larger and more active agency. Finally, in 1967, Webb reorganized NASA to prepare for the completion of its mission; and then, in the aftermath of the Apollo 1 fire, to enable greater top-down control.

“During the 1960s, top NASA officials had to be ready to change when change was imperative,” writes Arnold Levine in Managing NASA in the Apollo Era, “and to refuse to accept organizational forms as important beyond the goals they might serve.”

Stakeholder management. Webb’s primary role in NASA’s leadership triad was to manage the external stakeholders on whom the agency’s funding and success depended. He understood well the mechanics of the executive branch. For instance, in 1964, Webb actively lobbied Congress in support of Lyndon Johnson’s historic civil rights legislation, and in return, he secured Johnson’s financial backing and influence for NASA’s initiatives.

Webb also knew how to corral congressional support. In proposing that NASA move from Virginia’s Tidewater region to Houston, Webb secured the financial and political support of Albert Thomas, a powerful Texas congressman. “Mr. Webb handled that,” explained Robert Gilruth, the first director of NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center. “He said, ‘We’ve got to move to Texas. Texas is a good place for you to operate. It’s in the center of the country. You’re on salt water. It happens also to be the home of the man who is the controller of the money.’”

Finally, Webb recognized the powerful effect of optics on stakeholder support. When he discovered that liquor was being served on the plane NASA used to transport its executives, he ordered the practice stopped. Then, when Seamans warned him that it would make for unhappy passengers, Webb replied, “They’ll be even less happy if Congress climbs on us for something as silly as that.”

If you were among the 650 million people who watched Neil Armstrong step onto the surface of the moon in July 1969, you surely remember that historic moment. It’s also worth remembering that James Webb was its managerial architect and that today’s leaders can find good lessons in his achievement.