Changes in Altitude, Changes in Attitude

When I say, “What characteristics make a good astronaut?” what first pops into your head?

Determination? Bravery? Stamina? Intelligence?

What about Humor? Creativity? Humility?

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration is looking for all these characteristics as it recruits its next class of astronauts for future long-duration missions.?

Read: NASA is Recruiting a New Class of Astronauts

“We want the group of astronaut candidates that we select to be reflective of the nation that they’re representing,” April Jordan, NASA’s astronaut selection manager

What can NASA’s strategy for recruiting the next class of explorers teach us about building teams on Earth?

Let's back up: there are basic elements to the NASA Astronaut Application :

1. Be a U.S. citizen
2. Have a master’s degree* in a STEM field, including engineering, biological, physical, and computer science or mathematics, from an accredited institution.
3. Have a minimum of three years of related professional experience obtained after degree completion (or 1,000 Pilot-in-Command hours with at least 850 of those hours in high-performance jet aircraft for pilots). For medical doctors, time in residency can count towards experience and must be completed by June 2025.
4. Be able to complete the NASA long-duration flight astronaut physical successfully.

This three-year-old motivational speaker said it best, right Kellie Gerardi ?

But as Victor Glover said to 纽约时报 , "Just as astronauts need technical ability, they also need something that is more difficult to teach: social skills."

In other words, if you can't communicate it, you can't do it.

And that's why communications is central to building teams on Earth, and to take it to the next level, to build thriving communities on Earth and in the off-Earth space economy.

1. How can you leverage the communication styles of best-in-class teams (like astronauts chosen for a six-month mission) to level-up your team's ability to communicate?
2. Going beyond multifunctional teams, what can we learn from how other industries innovate using strong communications to drive progress?
3. If we're going to take our brand, company or industry from thriving in a terrestrial environment, what communications skills will we need to replicate that success when we're a space-faring society?

My friends at Inter Astra Institute delve into this further with their new podcast: "Your Business: In Space." Shoutout to Ché Bolden and Toby Goodman for this.

Learn about: "Your Business: In Space" podcast.

Bringing our conversation back down to Earth, achieving stronger team communications could be as simple as restating the problem or relaxing the "rules" and inspiring teammates to create in their preferred way. Vic Glover did this when he submitted a limerick in his astronaut candidacy application.

Achieving stronger team communications could be as simple as restating the problem or relaxing the "rules" and inspiring teammates to create in their preferred way.

Who knows what heights you'll hit, what limits you'll break, and what creativity you'll unlock when you change your perception of what you're looking for?

Welcome to our new subscribers. I'm thrilled to connect with you. We love hearing from subscribers, so please share your thoughts and comments. We're honored when you reshare this newsletter on your feed with any thoughts or sentiments you have. A tip of the hat to one of America's greatest poets, Jimmy Buffet, for inspiring today's newsletter headline. Ad Astra!