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4 interviews · 10 quotes
In conversation
Referred to as “the most famous astronaut since Neil Armstrong,” Colonel Hadfield was selected as a NASA Mission Specialist, and three years later he was aboard the Shuttle Atlantis, where he helped…
Elsewhere in the archive
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In this interview, I speak to Professor Andrés Velasco — Dean of LSE’s School of Public Policy, Chile’s former Finance Minister, and co-editor of The London Consensus. He argues that ideas, not…
From the archive
It is precisely because of all those years of anticipating and designing for failure that they are alive today.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
Going around the world thousands of times presents you with the depth, fragility, strength and richness of Earth; and gives you a sense of what 4.5 billion years actually means. I travelled with our Earth as it crossed the Solar System and watched as Winter and Summer swapped- it was like watching the world take one of 4.5 billion breaths.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
Seeing the Earth from space gives you an unfiltered understanding of it. Until you see the Earth from this vantage point, everything you knew about the planet was based on something that someone else had told you – based on their own filtered understanding and bias.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
Most every decision that your team will make is independent of you as a leader. Once in a while, they may update you or ask you a question, but the vast majority of decisions are made either individually, or inside teams- and if those individuals and teams don't know what that end-game truly looks like, the odds of them making the right decision at any moment in time diminishes.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
99.9% of the time, you are not in a burning building- and that is precisely the time to think about what you would do in that 0.1% of time when it is on fire. A lack of information and preparedness in an emergency or crisis can be the difference between carrying yourself through, and sometimes, catastrophic outcomes.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
Having a plan, feeling confident and being competent are the greatest antidotes to fear. If you're just trying to deal with the unknown by crossing your fingers and hoping, you will be utterly helpless when a situation finally manifests. In reality, you're rarely (if ever) completely helpless, you allow yourself to be helpless.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
In reality, you're rarely (if ever) completely helpless, you allow yourself to be helpless. You need to take ownership of a situation, break it down into bitesize chunks and plan accordingly.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
Having a plan, feeling confident and being competent are the greatest antidotes to fear. If you're just trying to deal with the unknown by crossing your fingers and hoping, you will be utterly helpless when a situation finally manifests.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
99.9% of the time, you are not in a burning building- and that is precisely the time to think about what you would do in that 0.1% of time when it is on fire.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
Most every decision that your team will make is independent of you as a leader. If those individuals and teams don't know what that end-game truly looks like, the odds of them making the right decision at any moment in time diminishes.
— Chris HadfieldCanadian Astronaut & International Space Station Commander
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