You can not operate in this room unless you believe that you are Superman, and whatever happens, you're capable of solving the problem.
Interpretation
Confidence and self-belief are essential for overcoming challenges.
In this quote, Gene Kranz emphasizes the importance of believing in oneself, akin to possessing the extraordinary confidence of Superman, when facing challenges in high-pressure situations. It suggests that a strong mindset and unwavering self-assurance are fundamental to solving problems effectively.
In practice
In a motivational speech to inspire upcoming engineers who are worried about their projects.
There's an awful lot of future out there, and what you got to do, is you go to out and grab it, wrestle it to the ground, accept the challenges, and then decide. You've got the skills. You've got the knowledge. You've got the love, and you're capable of moving forward and making a great life yourself.
I did everything by the numbers. I had checklists upon checklists. If I wasn't ahead of everybody on my team, I didn't feel I was doing my job.
No way can you ever, ever, ever evidence confusion, concern, lack of understanding. You have to be in charge. You are the guy. You have to be cooler than cool, smarter than smart.
I was the most emotional of the flight directors. Space really got me all honked up.
I just felt that space was the next thing coming in aviation. It was higher, faster. It had the risk.
We've never lost an American in space, we're sure as hell not gonna lose one on my watch! Failure is not an option.
Failure is a signpost to turn you in another direction.
You are not judged by the height you have risen, but from the depth you have climbed.
When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself.
Just put one foot in front of the other and don't worry about the length of the path. Once you get on that path, and the longer you stay on it, there eventually will come a time when you will not turn back.
The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true.
Strive for perfection, but settle for excellence.
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