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| Traits of an Entrepreneur Applied to Scientific Research |
What are the main traits of an entrepreneur?
• Tenacity
• Passion
• Vision
The list goes on, but in my opinion, these three traits are the most important. They are the core of establishing a successful venture. Any business deals with failures, and they happen much more frequently than we might think. There would be no chance of survival without hard work and perseverance. Another important aspect of achieving good results is to love what you do. For many people, the word "entrepreneur" is associated with money. However, only entrepreneurs who have an idea of a new venture, who are excited about what they're doing, would tell you that their main driving force isn't money, it's a dream. That is why we need an original idea and determination to start a new venture, in addition to the energy to achieve the much-desired goal. What is missing to make it happen? Vision. I would say vision is the most important part. It is essential to future success, because future success depends on the ability to see an opportunity where others don't. Those opportunities could be found in any field of human activity.
Consider an entrepreneurial approach in science. As it turns out, leading a research group looks a lot like running a small business: you have a budget, employees, and competitors, you come up with a product, and you sell it. I was fortunate to be able to discuss that view with prominent scientists Dr. John E. Thomas, the John S. Riley Distinguished Professor at NC State University, and Fritz London, the Emeritus Professor at Duke University. Based on our conversation, I apply the main traits of an entrepreneur to managing scientific research to see if these traits fit science as well as they do business.
When it comes to science, especially experimental science, the process of obtaining desired data can take years of constant research. To start an experiment, one has to build a system and make it work pretty reliably. Then one can start taking data. John Thomas reflects: "We often obtain data that we don't understand, so the system doesn't do what we thought it might do. And we have to figure out what it is actually doing. We are experimentalists, not theorists. We try to come up with some understanding of the way it's behaving so that we believe our data. Otherwise, we could publish data that's coming from junk. After characterizing the system carefully we're ready to write a paper. It can take a couple of years to do one paper. This is not something we do quickly because the experiments are complicated, and the data we take is sometimes complicated." Thus, it takes tenacity to keep going, even when it seems like nothing is going to work. Eventually, it will. This determination and persistence are the price of success.
The next entrepreneurial trait I'm applying to science is passion. After all, everything a person does, is done to realize dreams and enjoy work at all times. It doesn't matter what a person dreams of: whether to own business, buy a car, or, in the case of a scientist, solve another riddle of nature. Once the dream comes true, it's time to pursue a new one. Dr. Thomas lives his dream. His career and hobby are one passion. This is the reason for his successful experimental research studies for over 30 years: "I love what I do. My work and my hobby are the same, and they have to be the same. To be in this business, to be a professor, you have to think about physics all the time. If it's not your hobby and you have to do it so much, it'll be very bad, you won't be happy... I often watch television with some junky show going on and I have a pad on my lap, and I calculate something. Because it's fun, it's not work."
The third trait discussed here is vision, which is about successfully starting a business in a market and choosing the right direction for the product. In experimental science, a product is an outcome of laboratory research. The journey is long and rocky from the point of coming up with the idea for research and beating the competition to a new discovery. "What is hard in this competitive field is coming up with an idea what everyone isn't doing. Because big groups have much more resources than smaller groups, they're trying to do exactly what you're doing and directly compete. They will usually be able to outrun you and get the work done before you do. Everyone wants to be first in some things. So, the game is to be creative enough, see other things to do that nobody is doing."
To be successful on the way to a dream, it doesn't matter what a person does. What matters is the determination in doing what they are passionate about and the vision to http://4bb73ad6ktclhr6hqm1z5ljg90.hop.clickbank.net/make dreams come true.