NASA janitor

[snopes]

Comment: Rumor is that either President Kennedy or Johnson visited NASA
one day, saw a janitor working feverishly at sweeping the floor, asked him
what he was doing and received the reply, "Because I'm working to put a
man on the moon". This has been used as an example of great leadership
vision trickling down to the smallest parts of an organization. IS THIS
STORY TRUE?

[ASL]

Originally Posted by snopes

asked him
what he was doing and received the reply, "Because I'm working to put a
man on the moon"

Well, that didn't exactly answer the question. You see, there are 6 basic questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how. This fellow was asked "what" and he responded with something that seems like it would more appropriately be the answer to "why."

[Horse Chestnut]

Doubtful. First off, cleaning crews work late at night, when there are fewer people around, and areas can be closed off for cleaning. I imagine NASA never really sleeps, but trying to get things done in the middle of a presidental visit seems a little futile to me. In fact, I would think the cleaning would have been done before the President got there.

Second; nobody cleans a floor feverishly. If you care anything about the job, you clean the floor methodically. That's why you're not going to see a janitor moving quickly while cleaning a floor. It just stirs up the dirt and makes you miss areas.

I would not doubt that the cleaning crews at NASA do take their jobs seriously and feel that they are making a contribution. Despite the stereotypes regarding public servants, I've found most people working for the public sector are happy to have these jobs, and do the best they can.

[marrya]

Originally Posted by Horse Chestnut

Doubtful. First off, cleaning crews work late at night, when there are fewer people around, and areas can be closed off for cleaning. I imagine NASA never really sleeps, but trying to get things done in the middle of a presidental visit seems a little futile to me. In fact, I would think the cleaning would have been done before the President got there.

Second; nobody cleans a floor feverishly. If you care anything about the job, you clean the floor methodically. That's why you're not going to see a janitor moving quickly while cleaning a floor. It just stirs up the dirt and makes you miss areas..

Spy/Secret Agent then?

[Horse Chestnut]

Originally Posted by marrya

Spy/Secret Agent then?

Nah. A custodian working in the middle of the day is more than likely a paid assassin.

Horse "The janitor's got a gun!" Chestnut

[Meaty Pop]

Originally Posted by Horse Chestnut

Doubtful. First off, cleaning crews work late at night, when there are fewer people around, and areas can be closed off for cleaning.

Never worked for the government, have you?

Meaty "do you have to vacuum now?" Pop

[snopes]

If only that janitor had worked harder at keeping the floor clean, Apollo 13's tank wouldn't have exploded.

- snopes

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by snopes

If only that janitor had worked harder at keeping the floor clean, Apollo 13's tank wouldn't have exploded.

But it's a good thing the toilets were clean. Those three men might have been lost.

[Nick Theodorakis]

I heard it was Christoper Wren and St. Paul's Cathedral, but the story probably goes back to the pyramids or maybe a Sumerian ziggurat.

Nick

[CannonFodder]

Certainly the details are likely apocryphal, but I'd bet good money (which I don't have to spare right now so I'm very confident) that sometime in the 60's at the space center in Houston was a janitor, or receptionist, a cook, or a purchasing agent who felt as though their small effort was part of the larger team contributing to something phenomenal.

I'm disappointed that persons whom I believe to be kind, empathetic individuals would belittle such a state of mind.

If I had been at Cape Canaveral or Houston, the Grumman plant in Long Island or any of a dozen other places and serving in some menial capacity I would STILL feel very proud of my meager contribution to the larger goal. Such motivation is a wondrous thing.

Believe in people, they'll impress you a hell of a lot more often than they'll let you down.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by CannonFodder

Certainly the details are likely apocryphal, but I'd bet good money (which I don't have to spare right now so I'm very confident) that sometime in the 60's at the space center in Houston was a janitor, or receptionist, a cook, or a purchasing agent who felt as though their small effort was part of the larger team contributing to something phenomenal.

Maybe so, but realistically the guy who sweeps the floors isn't working "to put a man on the moon"; he's working to keep the floors clean. It's akin to a peanut vendor at PETCO Park claiming that he's "working to win a championship for the Padres."

- snopes

[CannonFodder]

Originally Posted by snopes

Maybe so, but realistically the guy who sweeps the floors isn't working "to put a man on the moon"; he's working to keep the floors clean. It's akin to a peanut vendor at PETCO Park claiming that he's "working to win a championship for the Padres."

- snopes

In my opinion that peanut vendor IS working to win a championship for the Padres. His contribution is certainly more oblique than a closing pitcher or number 4 in the batting order, but he contributes.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by CannonFodder

In my opinion that peanut vendor IS working to win a championship for the Padres.

No, he isn't. He's working to make profits for a concessionaire (and himself).

- snopes

[ganzfeld]

Personally, I'm working to put Humpty together again but I'm not so sure I'm making much of dent in the effort.

[Mateus]

I read the title of this thread, and was hoping it was something like "Good Will Hunting" (or, even better, "Lyle's Constant")

As for the question of the OP, I checked my usual sources, and found no occurrence of "NASA" and "janitor" in presidential papers. While this, of course, proves nothing, I'm inclined to believe it's a made up demonstration of using vision to encourage productivity.

[Alchemy]

I think all our support staff - administrative, technical, maintenance, custodial - provide skill and labor which is essential to our research, and they have every right to take their share of credit in the accomplishments made by the labs that they help keep operational.

I'm with Horse Chestnut and CannonFodder. The story is apocryphal, the response is a bit nonsensical, but the attitude is invigorating and really quite common in highly-motivated research environments.

Originally Posted by snopes

Maybe so, but realistically the guy who sweeps the floors isn't working "to put a man on the moon"; he's working to keep the floors clean. It's akin to a peanut vendor at PETCO Park claiming that he's "working to win a championship for the Padres."

Realistically, the guy with 30 years research experience and a team of a dozen Ph.D. research assistants isn't working "to put a man on the moon"; he's developing lubricating oils.

[Malruhn]

If he buys into the "company plan", then even the person cleaning the floor is helping to put a man on the moon. If he fails to do his job, then someone else's performance may be hindered, thereby hindering someone else's performance... it is the chaos effect in the workplace... but easier to see.

Using snopes' analogy, Barry Bonds isn't working to win the World Series, he's working to hit a little ball with a stick, and that's it.

[DemonWolf]

Originally Posted by Horse Chestnut

Second; nobody cleans a floor feverishly. If you care anything about the job, you clean the floor methodically. That's why you're not going to see a janitor moving quickly while cleaning a floor. It just stirs up the dirt and makes you miss areas.

You do if somebody tracked mud accross your nice clean floor and the president is due to arrive any minute...

[Horse Chestnut]

Originally Posted by DemonWolf

You do if somebody tracked mud accross your nice clean floor and the president is due to arrive any minute...

I hate when NASA engineers do that.

[diddy]

Originally Posted by Malruhn

Using snopes' analogy, Barry Bonds isn't working to win the World Series, he's working to hit a little ball with a stick, and that's it.

Not really. Barry Bonds is actually employed by his team and gets hired for a specific objective. A peanut vendor is more than likely just an employee of the park or the vendor who gets contacted by the park who's job is to sell food products at a huge markup. They may work in the same office, but their jobs are totally different.
ETA. Somehow, I really doubt that Barry Bond's ability to hit balls gets hindered when somebody doesn't get their peanuts.