Indian Space Research's Orbital Height's via ISRO's Chandrayaan 2 - How ISRO Does it?

"There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society." ~~~ Vikram Sarabhai ~~~ (Considered by all to be the Father of Indian Space Program)

It is a moment of immense proud for all Indians with the success of Chandrayaan-2 by the brilliant brains at ISRO. Just to use another acronym for Indian Space Research Organization - Indian Space Research's Orbital Height. How is this orbital achievement possible?

How does ISRO accomplish a gargantuan task needing infinitesimal mindpower, outstanding planning and virtuoso execution at a cost that is fractional compared to other nations or even some of the hollywood science fiction movies (that are not real unlike the missions carried out by ISRO)?

What are the lessons we can pick up from the successful execution of all the great work done by ISRO that has put India on scientific excellence for the past 40 years or so? I feel that the singular reason for it is how brilliantly the organization is run with all the minds working towards a common goal with a sense of purpose, accomplishment and focus. The way this organization is run (at least for an outsider like me), is a classic example how a corporate company should be run as well.

1. Talent - Have a full focus on hiring, training, retraining, coaching and building outstanding talent. Do not lower your standards. Be a startup like early stage Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix or a Microsoft

2. Build a legendary leadership pipeline - The amount of stories and casestudies we get to hear the brilliant leadership practices from ISRO is mindboggling. It is like an encyclopedia or a museum of knowledge. The Chairmen of ISRO starting with Prof Vikram Sarabhai , Prof MGK Menon, Prof Satish Dhawan, Dr Abdul Kalam, Dr U R Rao, Prof Kasturi Rangan and to the current leadership, everyone is a giant on their own rights. The anecdotes and stories we hear about the leadership lessons and handling of challenges is amazing. ISRO has developed a knack for building a solid and diverse talent across the nation. The visionary leadership development strategy will be a role-model approach even for the most successful corporates.

3. Innovation / 4. Frugality - ISRO is known for indigenous innovation with frugality that is mind-boggling. Be it the invention of Cryogenic technology for GSLV launches when empowered nations denied the tech due to political reasons to ability to launch 100+ satellites in a single rocket, use of innovative methods to complete a mission to mars at a cost that is less than half of a hollywood blockbuster movie, frugality and innovation are the core of ISRO.

5. Quality - All these were done with Quality as a state of mind. Given that the Chandrayaan-2 launch was postponed by a week due to an issue identified in quality checks and getting fixed in a week's time is a classic example. ISRO's outcomes (given the frugality) may be better in terms of ROI compared to a similar program of another space agency such as NASA.

6. Passion / 7. Zeal / 8. Focus - All three are interrelated in some way or the other. Happy and focused employees make up a great enterprise. Success of a great company thrives on these 3 aspects at every employee. ISRO has done a fantastic job (for an outsider) here as well. Again - Leadership plays a key role here asw well.

9. Empathy / 10. Team work - Without Team, there is no work and without empathy there is no team. The way leadership team watches out for their team mates and colleagues and supports them is phenomenal. This is a classic To cap it all, the team of leaders running all the critical and core modules of Chandrayaan-2 are women geniuses empowered by ISRO leadership. Continuing on the success of Mangalyaan, these brilliant minds are capable of running the space program for a big nation such as India on their own. The diversity aspect and breaking the glass ceiling, space ceiling (or whatever we want to call it) is anothe brilliant example of leadership at ISRO

"He who can listen to the music in the midst of noise can achieve great things." ~ Vikram Sarabhai

All in all, the leadership style and the continued focus of the leadership team to think ahead and putting the nations goal ahead of theirs to push the boundaries. The leadership lesson one can learn from the Rohini-1 (Failure) and Rohini-2(Success) from how Prof Satish Dhawan owned the failure and gave credit of the success to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is a classic example of servant leadership that is a rarity. 

Given the successful implementation progress of the CY-2 so far (which will go all the way by 7-Sep early morning) is another Great job done by ISRO indeed.

Some more leadership wisdom from two of the greatest minds from India - Prof Dhawan and Father of Indian Space program - Prof Sarabhai.

"One wants permissive individuals who do not have a compelling need to reassure themselves that they are leaders." ~ Vikram Sarabhai

"But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society." ~ Vikram Sarabhai

If you do not have a mission, no problem will occur, but if you do have a mission or task definitely problems of varying magnitudes will crop up. But problems should not become the master of the individuals, individuals should become the master of the problem, defeat it and succeed - Satish Dhawan

Some good videos and snippets about CY-2

Hope you liked the article. Would be great to hear your comments.

Credits: Image created using CANVA. All Links correspond to public URLs available and credit goes to respective authors. Respective trademarks owned by corresponding firms.  The quotes are attributed to the leaders quoting the same and are available freely on the Internet. The video links and the images are from ISRO posts in the Internet. Opinions about topic highlighted are from a personal experience standpoint and in no way reflect the views of my current or past employers or clients. 

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