New Role

I finally have the leadership role that I've been coveting for, well, I'm not really sure how long. The situation is a little more complicated than I would have liked for my first real crack at leading something bigger than a small project. I'm co-leading with a scientist from another group, a former manager is part of the team, and I'm working with a system that I understand from a distance but have never really had to delve into the details. A couple of important people in my building have a put their reputation, as well as the reputation of the site, on the line with this project. Failure is not an option.

There is no reason why we should fail. The science is new to us but it's a well-established field. There are publications galore about several important aspects of the technology. We just have to find a way to manage the complexity and make sure we stay focused on making progress and not get lost in all kinds of academic weeds. I see my role as shaping how the group thinks about the project. We constantly fall into a template for how work is expected to get done in the building. We need to stay out of that trap. We need to recognize when we have important observations and using all that established science to solve our problems. It's about making meaningful progress by thinking and using data rather than just running full speed ahead in hopes that something will work.