The vision statement is fundamentally significant since it depicts the project and study in the future. The study ""Building a Missile: The Power of Autonomy and Leadership"" was carried out with the goal of developing a cooperative air-to-surface standoff missile. As a result, the purpose of this article is to describe the actions that should be done to execute in the development of the missile. The missile's design is determined by the level of devastation required as well as the variable of the targets. The missile was intended and developed to protect aircrews against hostile air attacks. Analysis of Key action to forester higher level of performance by Terry Little.
Terry Little faced when challenges when it came to the designing and developing of the missile. The first challenge was to convince his team members and implement changes with regards to the views of the team members (Laufer, Ward, & Cockburn, 2012). He had to change the perception of the whole team to think about the reality of the project. According to the team members, the most important aspect of the project was the controlling of the performance, decision-making process and conduction of the reviews (Müller & Turner, 2007). However, Terry Little insisted and on giving the priorities to the development of alliances, the collaborative relation as well as the generation of confidence of all the team members.
The strategy by Terry Little to give priorities on the alliance, collaborative relation, and generation of confidence was very vital and useful in the team. The strategy is important because the relationship between and amongst the team members determines the success or the failure of the project (Salam, 2015). The relationship entailed listening to the idea generation by team members and discussing them to come up with logical ideas and solution. Therefore, giving the collaborative relationship a priority was effective as it fostered better communication channels and clarity about the objectives of the team.
Before Terry was involved, he used the analytical approach to help them in finding background information about the research. However, the approach failed because most of the calculations were not the requirements of the project (Salam, 2015). Terry has faced many problems trying to convince his team members about the fact that the project needed more than just calculation. He reacted quickly to the situation by using his wealth of experience in a situation like that. He assembled people who worked as agents of changes for the project.
Terry also set the objectives and goals of the project with the certain timeframe. The action was successful because the short-term goals were achievable and motivated the team members to achieve more (Müller & Turner, 2007). Furthermore, giving up was not an option in this case. Therefore, setting new objectives and strategies within a short-term frame was helpful in the execution of the project.
Recommendation of a new course of action for Terry Little
There is no doubt that Terry Little lacked an approach that would bring the change in the organization. The recommended approach participatory and uniting all the team members in the decision making process. Terry Little was the team leader, and if he could have asked the team members about their views and ideas, then they would have felt to be part of the project. The decision-making process of Terry Little was autonomic, and no team member was informed about new rules or agreements (Müller & Turner, 2007). The autonomous leadership styles of Terry demoralized all the team members and discouraged them from working on the project because they felt as they were excluded and not part of the project. It is recommended that Terry use Heteronomic management styles when making decisions on the project needs and accommodate the views of all team members (Laufer, 2012).
The fallacies, consistencies, and inconsistencies in Terry's leadership tactics
The fallacies of the Leadership tactics
The major fallacies of Terry's leadership tactics were based on the fact that analytic and calculation were the only requirement for the execution of the project. The team members also believe that the major activities of the project entail the control of the performance, decision-making projects as well as a review of the conduct of the all the activities of the team (Müller & Turner, 2007). These beliefs were fallacies as it made it difficult for Terry and the team to understand the initial stages and actual processes of the project.
The consistencies of Terry's Leadership Tactics
Despite, the leadership style being autonomous, it has some notable consistencies in the project. Terry ensured the team members were empowered to work together as a team. Even though at the beginning of the project, it was difficult, the team members had to figure out how to work together and successful finish the project. The tactic was consistent because Terry insisted that each team member defend their position. The strategy ensured that there were motivation and sheer determination amongst the team members. Another consistent thing about the leadership tactic was that Terry was accountable and he showed a sense of ownership of the project (Laufer, Ward, & Cockburn, 2012). It was important since each team members were assigned specific tasks and hence, no member focused on the future benefit of the project. As the leader, he insisted and instilled responsibility amongst all team members.
The inconsistencies of Terry's Leadership Tactics
The major inconsistency in the leadership tactic used by Terry was the inability to convince the team members through charismatic and knowledge about the project. He could not answer some pertinent questions from the team members. Instead, he wanted to them to defend their position regardless of the questions they had (Laufer, 2012). He insisted on the team to fight when he was unable to answer the question. He used an iron fist to fire team member without reasons. Terry was biased along the gender line. He treated female team members better than the male team members as the women had more latitude than the men (Müller & Turner, 2007). Finally, he showed his poor leadership by condoning laziness from female team members, if a female team member was unable to perform her assigned tasks, then he would take the responsibility and do it himself.
Recommendation for changes in the leadership style and strategies
Terry should reduce his aggressive approach as it is only helpful in the short term and not long-term perspective. The aggressive approach would bring failure in consecutive times and lead to failure of the entire project (Müller & Turner, 2007). Terry should understand the project management needs a steady and consistent approach that would accommodate and consider all the present and possible future environments and resources (long run approach). Terry should change their inconsistent approach towards his team. The inconsistent approach would create discrepancies amounts team members, and hence, there is no clarity on the overall objectives and goals of the project. It would also hinder progress. Each member should be treated as equal, and punishment and benefits shared equally. Finally, Terry should use the participatory approach in management to ensure that the views and opinions of each team member are accommodated in the decision-making process.
Strategies of improving the operational performance of JASSM program
The first and most important strategy for improving the operational performance would be to consider the internal circuit system of the missile system. It is the most important because the missile is controlled by internal circuitry, and any damages or poor design means the failure of the project (Laufer, 2012). The internal circuit was the main failure of JASSM program especially in its first attempt to launch the missile. If the internal circuitry faults then there would be a malfunction of the device and its inability to take off. A good example of this strategy was the cancellation of the China's FJ ABM because of the faults of internal circuitry that led to malfunction and unable to take off.
The second strategy for improving the operational performance of JASSM program is to cross-checking the internal circuit before launching the program. The strategy is important because with electronic devices the probability of fault is always high. The failure of the first launch of the JASSM was due to the inability of the experts and technicians to double check the internal circuits and designs as there was little time. The double checking systems and internal circuits ensure that the project is successful (Laufer, 2012). An excellent example of this strategy was the ASTER 30 Missile that was successfully launched by France because experts and technicians double checked the systems before launching.
The third strategy would be prototyping. JASSM used a prototype form another company instead of making their own. The prototyping enables the team members to learn about the system and core principles. Learning about and following guidelines of a prototype from another company does not guarantee success especially with electronic devices. A good example was the Prithvi Air Defense that was known for PAD missile. They launched a high altitude interception on many prototypes before building and launching their own.
References
Laufer, A. (2012). Mastering the Leadership Role in Project Management: Practices that Deliver Remarkable Results. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall- Pearson.
Laufer, A., Ward, D., & Cockburn, A. (2012). Developing a Missile: The Power of Autonomy and Learning-Doing Business More Like Business. Retrieved from https://continuingstudies.wisc.edu/uwcpl/ch01.pdf
Müller, R., & Turner, J. R. (2007). Matching the project manager's leadership style to project type. International journal of project management, 25(1), 21-32.
Salam, M. A. (2015). Role of Leadership in Delegation of Effective Project Management. GRIN Publishing.
