005-Mission Update: One Small Step for Healthcare – Lessons in Leadership and Team Dynamics from Apollo 11 and a Mental Health Mission

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This is the fifth blog in a series that explores lessons learned from my experience leading a Children and Young People's Mental Health Portfolio Mission. Many of these lessons stem from doing things right, but there have also been odd occasions where I’ve learned the hard way—through missteps and challenges that revealed valuable insights. In this blog, we will focus on one of the most critical elements of any mission: teamwork, leadership, and the importance of skill audits. Through reflections on my own healthcare missions and drawing parallels with the Apollo 11 moon landing, I aim to extract broader lessons in leadership that can guide future innovations.

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This blog is based on a combination of my experiences, the reflections I’ve had along the way, and insights I’ve gleaned on how to shape more effective teams moving forward.

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A Lesson from Space

The Apollo 11 mission is often remembered for the image of Neil Armstrong’s small step on the Moon, but the success of that mission was the product of extraordinary teamwork, intricate planning, and the seamless alignment of different skill sets. NASA’s rigorous skill audit led to a carefully curated team—astronauts, engineers, scientists—each bringing different perspectives but aligned on a singular goal.

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One of the greatest takeaways from Apollo 11 is the importance of adaptability in leadership and team dynamics. Throughout the journey, there were moments when precision was critical, and at other times, quick decision-making and pragmatism took precedence. In my experience leading a healthcare mission, there are striking similarities: both in ensuring we have the right people in place and managing the tension between data-driven precision and momentum.

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This brings us to the first lesson: Skill Set Audits – Ensuring Your Team Has What It Takes to Succeed.

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Lesson 1: Skill Set Audits – Ensuring the Right Team for the Mission

Just like NASA performed skill audits to ensure their teams had the right technical and operational expertise, I learned how critical it is to conduct thorough skills audits in healthcare missions. During my tenure as a portfolio lead for Children and Young People's Mental Health, I worked with an interdisciplinary team of healthcare innovation and transformation specialists, data analysts, health economists, data scientists, programme managers, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and communications and patient and public engagement experts. While each team member brought incredible value, we made an early mistake in assuming that because we had "similar experience," we would be ready for any challenge.

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This overconfidence in our collective capabilities almost led to an early obstacle. The complexity of mental health innovations required different skills at different stages, and a one-size-fits-all approach simply did not work. We had to evolve our team composition as the project moved from conception to pre-execution.

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Lesson 2: Managing Team Dynamics – Balancing Precision and Urgency

Another crucial aspect of team success lies in balancing the different approaches and work styles within a group. Apollo 11’s success was contingent upon the delicate balance between engineers who prioritised precision and astronauts who needed quick, decisive action in high-stakes moments. This tension mirrors a common theme I faced in healthcare missions.

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In the Children and Young People's Mental Health mission, some team members were more inclined towards data precision and rigorous analysis, while others thrived in fast-paced, action-oriented environments. Neither approach is inherently better or worse; the key is recognising when each is needed.

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For example, during the early phases, we had team members who preferred spending time gathering and analysing data, often prioritising perfection over momentum. Meanwhile, those focused on delivery were eager to move quickly, valuing pragmatism and getting results out of the door.

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This dynamic often leads to friction—unless managed properly. My approach was to study each team member—their skills, preferences, and temperament—so that I could better manage the team’s dynamics. I learned that at different phases of the project, different leadership styles were needed. Early on, precision was critical as we built the foundation for data analysis. But as we moved closer to implementation, pragmatism took the driver’s seat, and quick decision-making became the preferred approach.

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To maximise the dynamics of the team, a leader must adapt their leadership approach depending on which phase of the mission you are in. It was clear to me that different times called for different skills and approaches.

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Lesson 3: Leadership Adaptability – Knowing When and What to Disclose

Leadership is also about knowing how much to disclose to your team. One of the lessons I learned, and it took time to fully grasp, was around sensitive information management. Especially when dealing with more senior team members, withholding too much information can unintentionally cause them to feel patronised or left out.

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In one instance, I remember being hesitant to share sensitive stakeholder feedback with senior members of my team. My instinct was to protect them from what I perceived as distracting negativity. However, by not disclosing this feedback, I risked creating a situation where the team felt patronised. As I came to realise, high-performing senior team members need to be involved in the more difficult aspects of mission leadership.

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When we worked on complex stakeholder management in the mental health space, it became crucial to share sensitive intelligence, even when it was tough. Not doing so would have risked the team's buy-in and could have alienated some of our best people. This experience echoes the lessons from Apollo 11, where transparency among the mission leaders and engineers was vital to ensure everyone remained aligned, even when the stakes were high.

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Lesson 4: Extending the Skill Audit to the Wider System

One key lesson that emerged over time was the importance of not limiting the skill audit to the immediate project team but extending it to the wider healthcare system. The success of any innovation depends not only on the healthcare innovation team but also on whether the broader system—the mental health trusts, provider trusts, Primary Care Networks—has the necessary skill mix, bandwidth, and headspace to absorb the innovation.

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It is imperative to check that the external teams responsible for adoption have the technical expertise and the organisational capacity to implement innovations successfully. I would strongly advise future mission leaders to conduct an audit that encompasses not only the core mission team but also the readiness of the system that will eventually adopt the innovation.

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Lesson 5: Evolution of Team Structure/Composition

One of the most important lessons from the Apollo 11 mission—and my healthcare mission—is that teams must be reconfigured based on the evolving needs of the project. In healthcare, missions may start small, grow, and then must contract again depending on the stage of the project. Sometimes they start large, shrink, and then expand to a different size to align with the changing demands of different phases of the mission.

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During the early discovery phases of our mental health mission, we required a heavy focus on research, data collection, and analysis. This assignment lent itself to structuring teams around the key tasks of Insights, System Mapping, and Horizon Scanning/Innovation Scouting. As we moved to long listing, prioritisation, and pre-implementation of innovations, the team shifted to structure around specific problem areas: crisis prevention, neurodevelopmental disorders, evaluation, ways of working, and cross-mission themes like sustainability and innovation implementation networks. We needed more focus on the volatility, ambiguities, and uncertainties of real-world engagement with the social aspects of selecting and implementing innovations.

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Just as the Apollo 11 team adapted to the technical and operational demands of landing a man on the Moon, I found that adjusting team size, configuration, and structure was critical to avoiding burnout, inefficiencies, and unfitness for purpose.

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Conclusion: One Small Step, One Giant Leap in Innovation

The success of Apollo 11 was not just about getting the right people on board, but about understanding when to pivot, adapt, and evolve based on the mission's needs. Similarly, my experience in healthcare taught me that leading a mission is about much more than simply assembling a talented team. It’s about conducting skill audits, managing team dynamics, and being agile enough to change the makeup of your team as needed.

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The journey to successful healthcare innovation can feel like one small step forward, but with the right leadership and a dynamic team, that step can lead to a giant leap in innovation.

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By embracing these lessons from both the Apollo mission and healthcare missions, we can create a future where teamwork, adaptability, and leadership combine to deliver world-changing outcomes.

Larry Koyama Lydia Salice Joana Flores Fazeela Chharawala Matthew Chisambi Benjamin Pierce Axel Heitmueller Morenike Ajayi MBE DStg, MBA, FCPFA, Dr T.Ayodele Ajayi FRCPsych Kemi Nelson Tunde Fasoyiro Ayobami Popoola Funke Sadare Chartered FCIPD, MA in HRM Craig Brown Danny Bosch, PhD FRSA Chris Dewhurst Chris Marot Dr Chris Russell NHS Leadership Academy ?? Richard Stubbs Scott Thowney Sarah Helps Marsha David Alan Davies Jay Dungeni Tommy Fuller Finn McNulty Yusuf Shittu MD, MSc Gift Pola Kiti, MPH Temitayo Johnson-Laleye, ACIPM Bharti Patel Jaime Squire-Dean Carly Snowball Sally Vaughan Bernadette Thompson OBE FCIPD Tony Mears Andi Orlowski Tony Roberts Shirlene Oh Yinka Makinde Alice Henderson Tom Clutterbuck Shakti Dookeran Matthew Wyatt Clare Thomson Adam Ashworth Kemi Bolarin Omorinola (Morin) Carew MBA Dr Maria Ilia James Plunkett Femi Bolaji Deji Lewis Marianne Lewis Rebecca Whitting Andrew George Shirlene Oh Jack Howell Clarerita (Rita) Higgins Tahseen Tayob MD MPH Hilary Scott Rebekah Tailor Chart.PR MCIPR Katie Harrison Harry Canagasabey Kevin Hunter Jack Howell Andrew George Dr Chris Russell Matt Inada-Kim Robert McLean Charles Conn Jonathon Gray Jon Siddall Sadie Myhill Emma Dabbs Emma Sharpe Katie Harrison Professor Bryan Williams OBE MD FMedSci Professor Derek Bell Prof. Bola Owolabi, MRCGP MFPH(Hon), FRSPH Dr Simisola Alabi MBBS MRCGP MSc Victor Odunaiya Dr Sheena Visram Ph.D BABATUNDE G OGUNDUNMADE PT Melissa Rochon Kate Hall Kate Cheema Kate Emery Greg Quinn Logan Ryan Deborah Harrison Eamonn Lyster Dr. Esther Gathogo, MPharm, PhD Kevin Fong Joy Tweed Alan Davies Henry Ireland Sara Rankin Uzo Ibechukwu Pip Peakman Anna Lodge 'Kemi A. Dusan Saska