The Right Kind of Crazy: A True Story of Teamwork, Leadership, and High-Stakes Innovation

I have read many management books in my time, but this comes across as both one of the most honest and down to earth treatments I have seen. Instead of dispensing general bromides about managing groups, Adam Steltzner gives us an intimate inside look at the team who put together the Entry Descent and Landing systems for the Curiosity Rover. In addition to the technical details, he aptly describes the very human side of having the right people, the right goals, and the right determination to do something that is incredibly hard. His own personal story of how he ended up doing amazing things is itself a compelling example of overcoming a late start, setting goals, and perseverance. I had the opportunity to hear Adam speak when he visited Harvard Medical School, and his unique brand of charismatic leadership was evident. Reading this book, you will learn quite a bit about an amazing technical achievement and at the same time, how to bring out the best in the diverse and talented people dedicated to a mission.

by Adam Steltzner and William PatrickThis is very much a personal story interwoven with the history of JPL and its missions and culminating with the landing on Mars of Curiosity under a skyhook with all the drama that went on behind the scenes for the Entry Decent and Landing (EDL) team. The book is filled with the author’s philosophy of what engineering means and the decision process that is needed to achieve the appropriate solution. Much of it rings true. He also opines on others that he worked with, with an arrogance (freely admitted) that is uncharacteristic in a technical book of this nature. I believe he feels it necessary to do this to provide examples of real world leadership required to achieve the audacious results that were successfully performed. He oversteps these bounds on a number of instances in the book. Still a great book chronicling what it takes to achieve the spectacular space missions we’ve come to expect.

I bought Adam's book as I have always been a big NASA fan but what I imagined was a government safe conservative 9 to 5 job could not be farther from the truth and I now feel much better about my own highly stressful but unglamourous IT job a whole other kind of dumb crazy which is now pushed firmly into perspective after reading about what Adam has to do to bring home the bacon. A terrific read which far exceeded my expectations and hard to put down even at 4am! Highly recommended!!

This book was required for a college course. We often had to quote from the book, so a select and paste feature would be nice, though I understand that could lead to people giving it away. I really thought it was difficult to read, it felt like the author was disingenuous and frequently exhibited a false sense of humility. The engineers in our graduate management class enjoyed the book. With a few exceptions, most students liked either The Right Kind of Crazy or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, not both. I preferred the latter. I would not have chosen this book had it not been required for a class.

It is a very interesting story about working in teams to accomplish engineering tasks where the unknowns can be large and the cost of an error can be complete failure of the task. Mix in that people (not a person) are the source of the solution. Lots of insights on one way to work through these issues. I am part of the team that teaches our capstone design experience to students and find there are lots of supporting stories that can be used for motivation from this book. Kind of a modern day version of *Soul of a New Machine*.

I heard the author on a radio talk show and was immediately interested in his day job... building spacecraft to land on Mars. But after starting to read the book, I realized there were so many parallels to my day job...leading smart creative engineers in a team environment to accomplish great things. This book is as much a leadership book as it is a first-person account of an amazing series of NASA JPL mars landings! I can only hope there is a sequel one day...I felt like I was inside the JPL and I want more!

I was familiar with Adam Steltzner from the Curiosity program, and was hoping to get some good tech about that lander. But this book is mainly about Adam, his life and career and his take on JPL and NASA. He really gets into team building and how to approach projects and problems that seem darn near impossible. So the book is "good of a kind." If you are a technical manager, I would highly recommend this book. But there are no pictures and not much high tech detail.

I was hoping for the blow-by-blow account of how the SkyCrane came to be built, instead this book attempts to be about management and large organizations, with some biography, failing even in this due to the insipid cliched writing. It doesn't have a single picture or illustration, which is shocking for a book about spacecraft (or management for that matter)!

An interesting (and very topical) insight from the 'Elvis' of Mars exploration into what curiosity and perseverance can achieve. An inspiration for others. My copy of the book was signed by the author, which was an unexpected bonus. GO PERSEVERENCE !

Inspiring, insightful and intelligent analysis of lessons learned which can apply across industries - as well as an exhilarating journey to Mars! Spoiler alert: tends to make any day job feel a bit dull.

Essential reading for anyone managing in a high tech environment.

Fabulous insight into the mind of a young playboy who ended up after ferocious study and catching up to become a premier Rocket Scientist..his Own Dad said hed be a bum..well hes not One of the Worlds Greatest by SHEER FORCE OF WILL he graduated top in Colledge then a Phd later..Wow what a read ..Recommended for anyone to read who still thinks they cant make it in life..This book Prooves you CAN!

For the future leader of teams or teamwork it's an inspiring insight how the "dark tunnels" in work can be overcome and how pressure can be transformed into energy to switch into high gear to master the next challenge. (and how to learn from it, if not) A truly written account of a successful life.