The intention

The intention was to build a well-functioning missile as quickly as possible that could compete with the Soviet Union's Sputnik.

The approach

The approach was to put a lot of money into the project in a short period of time so that a good one could be built in the shortest possible time, competing missile would exist.

The result

The result was 22 failed practice flights. The rocket would not function properly.

The lessons

The learning moment was that people had not reflected fundamentally. 22 times it turned out to be a different defect. Not once did the same error occur. Only when they started doing fundamental research into the entire set-up of the program and they had learned fundamentally did they achieve a successful flight. Fixing mistakes alone is therefore not enough.

Further:
The program director of the program was very clear when he stated;

“Failure analysis is basically research, when you get down to it. You recover and learn from mistakes; you don’t do that with success.”

Author: S. J. Hogenbirk