CommLog

In March we published a post about how internal communication at NASA was an area of focus in the Columbia investigation. The story continues to develop, as this Washington Post article illustrates:

One of NASA's top congressional supporters complained yesterday that concerns voiced by some mid-level engineers about damage done to space shuttle Columbia's left wing during liftoff did not reach senior administrators until after the shuttle disintegrated over Texas on Feb. 1.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) faulted the agency's internal communications system for preventing important information and analysis about the shuttle's condition from reaching senior administrators. She called for the creation of a "bottom-to-top" information clearinghouse to avoid a repeat of the mistake.

The story hints that information technology can provide that clearinghouse, although our experience suggests that without appropriate protocols such tools can easily make the problem of information overload worse. In all instances, the process of internal communication is more important than the product ... and in cases like that at NASA, the real trick is to develop protocols and tools that help senior leaders separate urgent information from heaps of important data.