Dewayne Washington Portrait

ÒIf you just invest a little time and a little effort in people, you will get so much more back. Not only will you feel good about it and get satisfaction above and beyond anything you can imagine, but the task or the mission you are trying to accomplish will also benefit tremendously. IÕve seen this happen many times when I have given someone an assignment. I am careful not to restrict their creativity. Often, theyÕre able to accomplish the task or mission better than I expected. ÒMy brotherÕs a professional artist, and I learned that from him. If you tell an artist what to paint, they will paint it. But, if you tell them what youÕre looking for, theyÕll paint that Ð and thereÕs a difference. People appreciate that, the openness to be able to create. Another big one is that thereÕs no such thing as a perfect person. So, the day you start thinking everythingÕs going to be perfect, you are in trouble. ÒI remember when I went on my first visit to NASAÕs Jet Propulsion Laboratory to talk about the Mars Sample Return campaign. I sat down with the communications team and said, ÔLook, if you are thinking we are going to do this perfectly and everythingÕs going to go as smoothly as it can, I want to change that mindset right now. We are going to have our challenges. But it is our job to work through those challenges, that is how we succeed. ÒI believe that whenever I am in a leadership position it is my call, my responsibility to create an environment in which all who work around me can be at their most efficient. I have been in situations before in which coworkers have said, ÔThat could not have turned out any better.Õ I believe you have to create the environment in which people can thrive and be their best. ThatÕs a big deal to me and I want people to treat me that way too. IÕve always felt from before I was a teenager that if I do something good, it will go to the next person and the next person, and before you know it, it goes around the world and comes back to me. I have truly believed that all my life, and I still think that today.Ó Dewayne Washington, Mars Sample Return Senior Communications Manager, poses for a portrait, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)