PROLOGUE

Luna 1 was launched and away on its unprecedented journey through space. It was January 2, 1959, and there was a high level of excitement at the remote launch site in the USSR. Scientists were attempting what no one had ever tried before: to hit the moon with a rocket launched from Earth.

It missed.

Ten years later, there was equal excitement in the mission control center of Apollo 11. This time the result was quite different. “Hitting” the moon had become so routine that it was not even an issue—the excitement was in the expectation that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would actually walk on the moon for the first time in history. We were not disappointed.

Much had changed in ten years. Perhaps most important was the fact that we had learned how to make in-flight corrections—guidance coupled with feedback. Scientists could launch a rocket in the general direction of the moon with complete confidence that the rocket could be “steered” to reach the moon—or even more remote celestial targets millions of miles away.

Our space team had learned that constant performance appraisal and feedback were required in the effective guidance of a rocket. But somehow most managers have not learned that we must make this same level of confident correction in our dealings with people.

The principle is simple and obvious, not only in rocket science but also in everyday life. We would not think of driving a car without midcourse corrections. When it veers even slightly to the left or right, an immediate small touch on the steering wheel restores the proper direction. But when an employee is “launched” into a complex task or series of tasks, often feedback is either missing entirely, given too late, or offered in an inappropriate way.

We can do better. The results can be as awesome as routinely hitting the moon. We want to tell you how a simple feedback process called 2+2 can be used to improve the way we work with one another so that we can hit our own management targets. Armed with the correct attitudes and tools, our potential for success will be realized because feedback can be given and received at every level. In an increasingly complex, rapidly changing workplace, we are constantly exploring unknowns in tasks and relationships. Feedback is the only means for staying on target. Join us in exploring a new concept of mission control in the business environment!