• Home
• PART I DREAM
  • Imagine It
  • Work on the Big Picture
  • Aim High
  • BS!
  • Brainstorm
  • Create Design
  • Tell a Story
  • Think JFK
• JUDGE
  • Get Real
  • Play Games
  • Simulate It
  • Run a Thought Experiment
  • Know Your Limits
  • Weigh Ideas
• ASK
  • Ask Dumb Questions
  • Ask Big Questions
  • Ask “What If?”
  • Ask: “Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?”
  • Ask Just One More Question.

• CHECK
  • Prove Yourself Wrong
  • Inspect for Defects
  • Have a Backup Plan
  • Do a Sanity Test
  • Check Your Arithmetic
  • Question Your Assumptions
• SIMPLIFY
  • Keep It Simple, Stupid
  • Draw a Picture
  • Make a Mock-up
  • Name the Beasts
  • Look at the Little Picture
  • Do the Math
  • Apply Occam’s Razor
• OPTIMIZE
  • Minimize the Cost
  • Minimize the Time
  • Be Mr. Spock
  • Make It Faster, Better, Cheaper(But Not All Three!)
  • Know When Bigger Is Better
  • Let Form Follow Function
  • Pick the Best People
  • Make Small Improvements
• DO
  • Learn by Doing
  • Sharpen Your Axe
  • Correct It on the Way
  • Do Something
  • Don’t Ignore Trends
  • Work on Your Average Performance
  • Look Behind You
  • Learn from Your Mistakes
• Epilogue

If you could not fail, what would you attempt?Forget about your fears, the facts, looking silly or stupid—andtest your ability to dream.Albert Einstein said that imagination is more important thanknowledge. Why would he say something so contrary to his pursuitof scientifi c truth? To free his imagination. To suspend his fearof being wrong—for a while—and to dream how the universemight be.What would you dream?Rocket scientists have their answer. Rocket scientists lovescience fi ction novels and movies: stories about traveling to Mars,Jupiter, Alpha Centauri, the Andromeda Galaxy; about contactwith alien beings, many-tentacled monsters, conscious robots, andgiant ants (or spiders or locusts or gorillas). Their favorite booksare not literature. Their favorite fi lms are the exemplars of B-grademovies. So what does this demonstrate about rocket scientists?They aren’t afraid of looking silly.How can a rocket scientist who has remotely piloted a deepspace probe to the outer fringes of the solar system enjoy the 1950fi lm Destination Moon, which tenders a juvenile plot, serves upwooden dialogue, and features cheesy special effects?Let’s take a closer look at a group of such rocket scientists whoworked for a prestigious government laboratory. On a regular basis,they would meet for a “Sci-Fi Film Festival” in which they’d watch1950s videos. They’d watch such classics as The Day the Earth StoodStill and Forbidden Planet and such crap as Plan 9 From Outer Spaceand I Married A Monster From Outer Space. They memorized lineslike “Gort, Klaatu barada nikto!” (what to say to the robot to stophim from vaporizing you) and “The fool—to think that his apebraincould contain the secrets of the Krell!” (what Dr. Morbiussaid to the rescue ship’s doctor who took the IQ boost). They’dlaugh at the bad navigation in Rocketship X-M where the spacecraft“accidentally” goes to Mars instead of the moon.But they loved these fi lms.They were like children who want to hear the same fairy taleover and over again. These were the fairy tales of the rocket scientists;their unfettered hearts seeking contact with outer space. Theirlogic turned off (their humor kept on)—their dreams turned on.Imagination wasn’t silly to them.