Lovell says leadership key to Apollo 13 rescue

Thirty-six years ago, James Lovell famously told Houston that Apollo 13 had a problem. On Tuesday, he told a Salt Palace audience that Apollo 13 also had an opportunity to demonstrate human traits during "a classic case of crisis management."

And, he said, those traits are applicable in the business world.

Speaking at the IT Service Management Forum USA Conference & Expo, the commander of Apollo 13 said leadership, innovation, perseverance, motivation and teamwork both on board and at Mission Control in Houston brought the three-person crew home safely after a harrowing few days in space when their lives were in jeopardy.

"It was a case where those attributes, those human characteristics, were so necessary to turn an almost-certain catastrophe into a successful recovery," Lovell said.

Lovell, aided by a Hollywood movie trailer for "Apollo 13" and NASA film about the flight, recited the various problems the crew faced after a liquid oxygen fuel tank exploded, imperiling the men when the spacecraft was 200,000 miles and 90 hours away from Earth. Ditching a planned moon landing, Apollo 13 used its lunar module as a "lifeboat" to swing around the moon and return to Earth — but not without many troubles along the way.

Leadership was one ingredient in dealing with the crisis, "and not just at the top of the organization," he said. "Leadership has to flow all the way through the organization, because that is the glue that forms teamwork."

Innovation and imagination came into play when the control center developed new procedures that had to be correct the first time and jury-rigged carbon dioxide filters that the crew needed in order to survive on the trip home.

Perseverance also was key, he said. "It's very necessary because a lot of times we have good plans, we're driving down the road and suddenly hit a brick wall and you have to fall back to Square Zero and start all over again. You've got to persevere to be successful."

Lovell provided a few other insights he said are applicable in both outer space and the private sector of business.

"Always expect the unexpected," he said. "If everything's going right, if product is selling, profits are up and you sit back, you know, just happy as can be, look ahead. Are there symptoms that indicate an impending crisis that you didn't recognize before? Is there a competitor behind you that might be coming up with a newer idea?"

He also recalled having to quickly learn new maneuvering procedures while flying the lunar module with a 60,000-pound dead mass of the other spacecraft modules attached — something never before contemplated.