Post-mortems of failed NASA missions revealed that one of the most destructive behaviours was castigation of contractors when things went wrong, which made them reluctant to speak up on subsequent occasions. Many of these people had been at NASA longer that the incumbents and had spent more time at NASA than in their own organisations, and yet were treated as second rate citizens within the mission teams. One of the important changes of the NASA 4-D program is to treat contractors as team members. Another was to differentiate between under and over-inclusion:

Over-Inclusion

Too many people CC’d on emails, or invited to meetings on initiatives for which they have no direct accountability or responsibility; hitting ‘Reply All’ on someone else’s over-inclusive e-mail.

Under-Inclusion

Withholding information, power or acknowledgement from those that deserve it, or need it to do their jobs effectively; engaging in behaviours that diminish another’s sense of belonging.

Appropriate Inclusion

Once you are clear who should be included, the following behaviours establish a sense of inclusion:

• Sharing credit

• Sharing information

• Explaining decisions

• Express appreciation

• Establishing shared interests

• Introducing playfulness/humour

• Asking for contributions from everyone

• Setting and respecting boundaries/standards