Goal Flexibility & Resilience: Lessons from Apollo 13

The Apollo 13 mission offers one of the most powerful lessons in leadership and innovation: goals can, and sometimes must, change over the course of a project. Initially tasked with landing on the moon, the mission’s objective shifted to simply bringing the crew home safely after a life-threatening malfunction. This shift exemplifies a core principle of leadership—knowing when to adapt. My personal maxim, “Firm vision, loose grip,” is rooted in this very insight.

Leadership requires maintaining a clear vision but staying flexible in how that vision is realized. In the case of Apollo 13, NASA’s overarching goal of space exploration never wavered, but their short-term objective pivoted. This adaptability allowed them to innovate rapidly, solving unprecedented challenges with limited time and resources. Nancy Atkinson has compiled a fascinating list of all the unexpected and unplanned things that ultimately saved Apollo 13.

In my own work, such as developing brand activation initiatives for Coach in the Chinese market and driving cross-disciplinary collaborations between Brown University and Berklee College of Music, I have applied this principle. We kept our vision for long-term organizational, cultural and business impact firm, but our methods often evolved as we responded to market shifts and creative opportunities. Allowing goals to develop doesn’t signify a loss of direction—it’s a sign of dynamic leadership that embraces the reality of change.

In any project, flexibility breeds resilience. By being open to change, organizations can pivot when necessary, innovate on the fly, and ultimately create solutions that might never have been possible if rigidly adhering to a predetermined path.

Deke Slayton (checked jacket) shows the adapter devised to make use of square Command Module lithium hydroxide canisters to remove excess carbon dioxide from the Apollo 13 LM cabin. As detailed in Lost Moon by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger, the adapter was devised by Ed Smylie. From left to right, members of Slayton's audience are Flight Director Milton L. Windler, Deputy Director/Flight Operations Howard W. Tindall, Director/Flight Operations Sigurd A Sjoberg, Deputy Director/Manned Spaceflight Center Christopher C. Kraft, and Director/Manned Spaceflight Center Robert R. Gilruth. 15 April 1970.