Scene: meeting room, some people dialling in remotely. The plan is to launch a manned rocket to the moon, and the project manager (PM) is kicking off the project.
Designer 'Before I answer that, we want to discuss the colour of the nose cone. The design is to paint it blue.'
PM "Okay, blue is fine. Have you had any thoughts about the engine?"
Designer 'No, but we actually think a red nosecone might be better.'
PM "Noted. Let's move on from that, and come back to it nearer the launch time."
Marketing: We thought blue. Now, how we will we choose the pilots?
PM "I was thinking that we would have a rigorous selection process."
Marketing: "We can do that. But we'd like to address the name of the spaceship. Our subsidiary want to call it the USSS Pegasus. We want to refer to it as the US Pegasus - the 'SS' was a suggestion from our previous owner. As this is a combined program, we're going to go with the US Pegasus."
PM "Noted. The US Pegasus. Now, about the pilots..."
Designer "And the name of the ship must be in blue text."
PM [making notes] "...blue text..."
Designer "To match the nose cone." PM "Now, circling back to the question of the pilots."
Stakeholder: "Oh, you can't say that. Circling back suggests that the ship isn't going to land on the moon." PM "Sure. So let's go on to the pilots?"
Stakeholder; "Yes, we can sort that out." PM "Thanks. Now - timelines. Do you have a target date for landing on the moon?" Stakeholder; "Yes, we want to land on 28 July, 2020. When do you need to launch?"
PM "How long will the flight take?" Stakeholder "That depends on the fuel." PM "Doesn't it depend on the engine?" Marketing "Possibly. But it's important that we land on 28 July." Stakeholder "Yes. 28 July. We've set that date with our president. It's his birthday"
PM "So who can give me the launch date?"
Stakeholder "Well, we expected you to provide that." PM "Okay, let's assume it takes four days to reach the moon. Can you have everything built and fuelled by then?" Stakeholder "And we'll want to check everything works." PM "Like a test launch?" Marketing "Oh no, we can't have a test launch. We can't have our competitors knowing what we're doing."
PM "No test launch?" Marketing "No." PM "And the pilots?" Stakeholder "I'm working on it." PM "And the fuel?" Stakeholder "I'll find somebody. Somebody somewhere must know something about it."
Marketing "And we'll need hourly readouts on speed. Preferably minute by minute. And oxygen levels; distance from the earth; internal and external temperatures. All those things." PM "Are you interested in the size of the engine?"
Stakeholder "We've been planning this for six months already. We know it'll need an engine." Engineer; "Sorry I'm late, I've just joined." PM "Thanks for joining. We're just discussing the rocket engine. Do you know what size it will be?" Engineer: "Big." PM "Big enough?" Engineer: "Yes. 1000 cubic units. Big enough." PM: "Great. Thanks. Let's move on." Stakeholder: "Wait, let's just check on that detail. Are you sure?"
Engineer; "Yes. I've done the calculations. It's big enough." Stakeholder: "To get to the moon?" Engineer: "Yes." Stakeholder: "And back?" Engineer: "Yes." Designer: "Even if we have blue text instead of red?"
Engineer: "Yes."
Marketing; "What about if we have red text."
Engineer; "The colour of the text isn't going to affect the engine performance." Stakeholder "Are you sure?"
Engineer: "We're not burning the paint as fuel. We're not painting the engine. We're good." PM: "Thank you. Now; how much fuel do you need?"
Engineer: "That depends. How quickly do you want to get there?" PM: "We need to land on the moon on 28 July 2020. I've estimated a four-day flight time." Engineer; "I'd make it five days, to be on the safe side, and I would calculate 6000 units of class-one fuel, approximately." PM: "Okay, that sounds reasonable. Will the number of pilots affect the fuel calculation?" Engineer: "Yes, but it won't significantly change the 6000 units estimate. When you know the number and mass of the pilots, we can calculate the fuel tank size we'll need."
Stakeholder; "But we won't know that until launch." PM: "Until launch?" Stakeholder: "Yes. We don't know how many people we want to send to the moon until the day of the launch." PM: "And the colour of the text? And the nose cone? And the actual text."
Stakeholder: "Will all depend on people we send."
PM: "No test launch?" Marketing; "No. We need this to be secret so that our competitors don't know what we're doing." PM: "So we're launching an undetermined number of people, in an untested rocket of unknown name and size, to the moon, with an approximate flight time and fuel load, at some point in the future."
Marketing: "But it must land on 28 July." PM: "2020, yes. Ok, We've run out of time for today, but let's catch up tomorrow with progress. Between now and then, let's work to decide some of the smaller details like the fuel and the engine, and tomorrow we can cover the main areas, such as the size of the rocket and where it's going. Thank you, everybody. Goodbye for now."
PM "Noted. The US Pegasus. Now, about the pilots..."
Designer "And the name of the ship must be in blue text."
PM [making notes] "...blue text..."
Designer "To match the nose cone." PM "Now, circling back to the question of the pilots."
Stakeholder: "Oh, you can't say that. Circling back suggests that the ship isn't going to land on the moon." PM "Sure. So let's go on to the pilots?"
Stakeholder; "Yes, we can sort that out." PM "Thanks. Now - timelines. Do you have a target date for landing on the moon?" Stakeholder; "Yes, we want to land on 28 July, 2020. When do you need to launch?"
PM "How long will the flight take?" Stakeholder "That depends on the fuel." PM "Doesn't it depend on the engine?" Marketing "Possibly. But it's important that we land on 28 July." Stakeholder "Yes. 28 July. We've set that date with our president. It's his birthday"
PM "So who can give me the launch date?"
Stakeholder "Well, we expected you to provide that." PM "Okay, let's assume it takes four days to reach the moon. Can you have everything built and fuelled by then?" Stakeholder "And we'll want to check everything works." PM "Like a test launch?" Marketing "Oh no, we can't have a test launch. We can't have our competitors knowing what we're doing."
PM "No test launch?" Marketing "No." PM "And the pilots?" Stakeholder "I'm working on it." PM "And the fuel?" Stakeholder "I'll find somebody. Somebody somewhere must know something about it."
Marketing "And we'll need hourly readouts on speed. Preferably minute by minute. And oxygen levels; distance from the earth; internal and external temperatures. All those things." PM "Are you interested in the size of the engine?"
Stakeholder "We've been planning this for six months already. We know it'll need an engine." Engineer; "Sorry I'm late, I've just joined." PM "Thanks for joining. We're just discussing the rocket engine. Do you know what size it will be?" Engineer: "Big." PM "Big enough?" Engineer: "Yes. 1000 cubic units. Big enough." PM: "Great. Thanks. Let's move on." Stakeholder: "Wait, let's just check on that detail. Are you sure?"
Engineer; "Yes. I've done the calculations. It's big enough." Stakeholder: "To get to the moon?" Engineer: "Yes." Stakeholder: "And back?" Engineer: "Yes." Designer: "Even if we have blue text instead of red?"
Engineer: "Yes."
Marketing; "What about if we have red text."
Engineer; "The colour of the text isn't going to affect the engine performance." Stakeholder "Are you sure?"
Engineer: "We're not burning the paint as fuel. We're not painting the engine. We're good." PM: "Thank you. Now; how much fuel do you need?"
Engineer: "That depends. How quickly do you want to get there?" PM: "We need to land on the moon on 28 July 2020. I've estimated a four-day flight time." Engineer; "I'd make it five days, to be on the safe side, and I would calculate 6000 units of class-one fuel, approximately." PM: "Okay, that sounds reasonable. Will the number of pilots affect the fuel calculation?" Engineer: "Yes, but it won't significantly change the 6000 units estimate. When you know the number and mass of the pilots, we can calculate the fuel tank size we'll need."
Stakeholder; "But we won't know that until launch." PM: "Until launch?" Stakeholder: "Yes. We don't know how many people we want to send to the moon until the day of the launch." PM: "And the colour of the text? And the nose cone? And the actual text."
Stakeholder: "Will all depend on people we send."
PM: "No test launch?" Marketing; "No. We need this to be secret so that our competitors don't know what we're doing." PM: "So we're launching an undetermined number of people, in an untested rocket of unknown name and size, to the moon, with an approximate flight time and fuel load, at some point in the future."
Marketing: "But it must land on 28 July." PM: "2020, yes. Ok, We've run out of time for today, but let's catch up tomorrow with progress. Between now and then, let's work to decide some of the smaller details like the fuel and the engine, and tomorrow we can cover the main areas, such as the size of the rocket and where it's going. Thank you, everybody. Goodbye for now."
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