"It will all turn out differently!": Sergei Ryazansky tells Yugra journalists how to work in an era of change

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Plans fall apart — and that is normal. What matters is that the team is ready. This was the message shared by Russian test cosmonaut and Hero of Russia Sergei Ryazansky at the National Centre RUSSIA in Yugra. His lecture "Life in an Era of Change" formed part of the "Information World of Yugra" forum, which brought together journalists, press secretaries and communications specialists.

"Before my first flight, we were sitting together as a crew, with our instructor rushing around in front of us, unfolding diagrams and charts, everything planned down to the second. Then my experienced commander leaned towards me and gently said: "Sergei, remember, it will all turn out differently." That phrase became the motto for the entire flight," said Sergei Ryazansky.

The cosmonaut is the world's first scientist to have commanded a spacecraft and holds a Candidate of Sciences degree in Biology. He suggested applying his experience aboard the ISS, where the flight is scheduled down to the minute but reality still makes its own adjustments, to any field: how to work with information amid the noise, how to test hypotheses quickly but reliably, and how to keep a team resilient when circumstances change along the way.

"However wonderful the schedules we draw up or the instructions we write, things will always turn out differently. Reality will inevitably make its own adjustments. If we are mentally prepared for change, we will cope, because we are all professionals in our respective fields," Sergei Ryazansky shared.

According to him, cosmonauts are taught to work with stress rather than fight it, and one of their main tools is "routine emergencies": scenarios prepared in advance for a crisis. He noted that most such situations can be anticipated, from a competitor launching a new product to the main server failing. The more scenarios a team rehearses beforehand, the more resilient it will be when real crises arise. The ability to keep learning without clinging to yesterday's stability also helps: according to Sergei Ryazansky, it keeps people from losing their bearings in an era of technological change.

"I have been teaching at the Skolkovo Business School since 2014, and I also teach at corporate universities. I very often meet highly successful people who, remarkably, try to cling to yesterday, to an illusion of stability. Friends, these are nothing but illusions. Whether we like it or not, the world around us is changing at astronomical speeds. Change is part of our lives," he added.

For journalists, uncertainty and tight deadlines are part of everyday working life, so the topic resonated with them. After the lecture, they asked the cosmonaut how he had felt before his first flight, what camera is used in space and which technologies make their way from orbit to Earth.

The 20th District Forum "Information World of Yugra" is taking place on 28–29 October at the National Centre RUSSIA in Khanty-Mansiysk. This year's theme is "The Legacy Code: Media. Values. Future".

For news about the National Centre RUSSIA in Yugra, visit its official accounts on VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, MAX and Telegram.