Whom to believe December 5, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in engineering, research, work.Tags: engineering, engineering research, ideas, negative people, research
add a comment
I went to conference earlier this year in Tucson, Arizona. While there, I saw a lot of cool presentations, but one in particular really got me interested. I knew we’d done some work similar to this presentation, and it was obvious that there was some interest in the area. However, I wanted to come up with a different application so as not to be competing with work already being done.
When I came back, we did a lot of brainstorming, but couldn’t quite come up with anything. Or rather, it’s not that we didn’t come up with anything but that the practicalities of applying this solution to the application in mind had some serious issues. The idea sat for months in the back of my head, churning. Finally, about 3 months ago, I came up with a method to deal with the problems. I got together some people whose skills were required, convinced them my crazy idea might have some merit, and we started writing out proposals and white papers.
(Note: coming up with an idea less than two weeks before the opening of proposal windows for major funding agencies is NOT a good idea.)
Of the few people who have heard about this idea, they generally liked it and thought it was clever as well as pragmatic. (And here I feel like I’m doing well if I manage to hit one of those!) However, there was one person who really did NOT like the idea. In meeting with this person, they spent a good chunk of our meeting dismissing it and pointing out its flaws. I was feeling, after talking with this person, that maybe I’d made a mistake and the idea wasn’t terribly good. In fact, I really felt like they were suggesting the project was a waste of time.
Four days later, I got an email saying that the letter of intent submitted to one funding agency had been reviewed: they want a full proposal. I felt considerably better after that. However, rather than feeling entirely vindicated, I think I might want to sit down and take notes on the drawbacks and flaws that were pointed out. Hopefully, this will contribute to a better final proposal.
After that email, however, I’m not sure I believe that the idea is a total loss. I guess the funding agencies will let me know one way or the other.
The easiest funding I’ll ever get January 4, 2011
Posted by mareserinitatis in career, engineering, research.Tags: funding, ideas, research
10 comments
I’ve been getting more and more frustrated as time goes on. You see, in addition to working on a dissertation, working half-time, and having a family and too many hobbies, I’ve been getting ideas for research I’d like to do. I am compiling a list. I pretty much tripled the size of the list last year, with only one thing knocked off.
It turns out that this was one of the most recent ideas, something I’d been working on in my head for a couple months after beginning a literature search. It was something I was expecting someone else to have figured out, so I was very surprised when I completed the lit search with nothing like the idea. At some point, I mentioned this to a co-worker. He thought it was an awesome idea. So I went to talk to my boss. I told him I had a thought related to one of the projects I was working on, and explained what it was.
I was very lucky. It turned out that there is another project, relatively low-priority, that had some funding, and what I wanted to do lined up perfectly with the goals of the project. I was bequeathed with five weeks of salary to work on the project.
I am truly spoiled. I can’t imagine that I will ever again be in a position where I can say, “I have an idea,” without much to back it up and be given money and resources to work on it.
Now I just hope it turns out like I want it to.
I also blog at Engineer Blogs, home away from home to some of the best engineering blogs.
The Horcrux February 13, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in societal commentary.Tags: horcrux, ideas, pointless arguments
2 comments
Today, I went into the lab and started disassembling some items that the Minion had made. I felt kind of bad about it because of all the work he’d done, but it was necessary to test out some ideas I had. He jokingly mentioned that he’d “poured his heart and soul” into it, when then led us to joke that the items I was actually destroying were Horcruxes.
Thinking about it later, it actually seems a somewhat apt analogy, and it doesn’t just apply to things you make in the lab. When you’re really interested or passionate about something, even an idea (or maybe…especially an idea), it can be hard to take criticism even when it’s obviously deserved.
GMP had a discussion about being nice, and I made the comment that I try to be tactful and that I prefer to try to argue ideas. It’s true that I try to be tactful because I’ve been on the receiving end far too often of those who don’t care how their words affect others. I also try to argue ideas or concepts and not turn things into a personal attack…although it sometimes fails miserably. I’ve often been confused, however, when people thought I was attacking them. I’ve had many people say that I was attacking them when I began to argue passionately about something. I really didn’t feel like I was attacking them as a person.
This is where the horcrux analogy is perfect: people think that by criticizing and commenting on their ideas, professional or personal, you’re trying to cut out a piece of their soul. Unfortunately, this makes little sense to those of us who are (supposed to be) trained to view ideas separately from the person who presents them. As a scientist, it’s irrelevant who poses an idea: if you think it’s stupid, you’re just supposed to say so and point out it’s numerous flaws. This is supposed to help the process of science.
On the other hand, it really doesn’t help the process of getting along with other people. It’s really no wonder there is this stereotype of the cold, heartless scientist who becomes a villain. People mistake criticism of their ideas to mean that the scientist must not like them as people, when sometimes, they couldn’t be further from the truth.
I really like my ability to analyze and criticize things, so I don’t really think I should change this behavior. It is also quite necessary for the work I do. I have difficulty compartmentalizing this and trying to not do it to people around me, although I’m far better than I used to be at biting my tongue. I guess what’s frustrating is that the scientist is the one expected to change this behavior by people who confuse criticism of their ideas with a criticism of them. From my perspective, however, this sort of ‘polite’ behavior is silly and somewhat dishonest.