Work the Problem

        “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Yes indeedee they did. Fifty-three years ago, 13 April 1970, Apollo 13 was more than half­way to the moon when an oxygen tank exploded. Power produc­tion plummeted, O₂ vented into space, the ship gyrated and veered off course. Soon, lack of water and excess CO₂ threatened the lives of the astronauts. Had the heat shield cracked? Would parachutes deploy? Three lives hung in the balance.

Such a scenario had never been rehearsed. Hou­ston’s mission control could have plummeted into pandemonium. But Gene Kranz interjected, “Work the problem. Let’s not make things worse by guessing.”

So they began to work the problem(s). One by one the NASA team studied and solved a set of seemingly insurmountable snags that threatened craft and crew.

A significant source of success was Kranz’ positivity. Rather than jumping without thinking, or wringing hands in despair, Kranz focussed on “counter­facts”—encouraging truths ignored by the pessimists. It is not unusual for groups of people to face a shared problem. The individuals in­ such groups often view their identical situation differently. Those who focus on positives and working the problem find courage and creativity to overcome; naysayers cripple themselves and crumple into despair. Stressing positive counter­facts avoids “learned helplessness”—losing hope and giving up. Kranz never let his team descend into learned helplessness. “Work the problem. Failure is not an option [which is the title of Kranz’ 2000 autobiography]. Instead of disaster, this will be our finest hour.”

Hand-wringing, straw-grasping, over­stat­ing, nega­tive thinking, and finger-pointing help less than remain­ing upbeat and working the problem. In 2020 overly-imposed social isolation strengthened neither bodies nor attitudes. Would not an immune system bolstered by fresh air, sunshine, and nutrition have proved a better ally? What are our problems today?