The right side of my brain took over while I was running at the gym this morning. As soon as I finished the run, I jotted down the following in the notes utility of my iPod:
Dehumanization of research. easy to measure. lower boundaries. Rich depth v superficial detail. Skunk works freedom from rigid constraint. List of skill v demonstrated potential. Easy to know procedure and right answer harder to see another right answer.
My mind was wondering when Linkin Park's Wisdom, Justice, and Love came on my iPod (through the Mog app, of course). The transition of the MLK Jr. clip into mechanical distortion resonated with what was on my mind at the moment. During my interview, I voiced my frustration with the disconnect between pharma business and pharma research. Business guys come in with their management tools and try to pixilate the fractal dimensions of R&D. Research is humane and highly creative, impossible to predict, and outside of constraints and rational control. It can't be managed with the same tools that are used to run the mechanical aspects of business. Things like supply chains or manufacturing systems perform as designed. Research isn't designed, it happens. It happens when somebody in a lab applies every tool in their arsenal to solve a complex problem. Research should reverberate with depth, subtlety, and eloquence. Modern management has distorted the humanity in the research process.
Research quality can be traced to a group of people working in a lab. There is no system that can consistently and reliably produce a quality research output in the absence of talented researchers. My other comments build on this notion. I hope I can remember their significance when I come back to them later...
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