 What is excellence? For some reason, I’ve been pondering this question lately. I checked Webster’s, and found that excellence is the “quality of being excellent”. Wow – that’s disappointing. I think most of us have a sense of excellence, and maybe that’s the point. For me, excellence is a knowing more than anything else. I know it when I see (feel) it. I have observed what I have perceived as excellence a few times in my life. Because I was the observer, this also makes me wonder whether it is harder to perceive excellence if you’re actually in the middle of it rather than in a position of observation. Let me explain. One of my perceptions of excellence came through observation of a band that my son participated in at a preparatory school in Omaha. Every aspect of the performance was considered, from how they entered the room with precision, sitting down at the exact same time, and then proceeding to play wonderfully. This example of excellence was due, in small part to the reputation of the school, and in large part to their terrific band director. A second example comes from Interlochen Arts Academy, which is a boarding school for fine arts in upper Michigan that also provides camps over the summer. Because my son attended Interlochen his senior year, and my daughter attended a camp there last summer, I have visited several times. Interlochen is a very special place that also emanates excellence, from the performances, to the teachers, to the classes, to the guest artists. I think the only place they miss the mark is the cafeteria, but maybe those are only great in cooking schools. Interlochen is a place that takes kids of mixed abilities and turns them into self confident artists, writers, and musicians who leave with a belief in their abilities as an artist and as a person ready for their next stage in life. The fact that many graduates return to Interlochen to work during the summer makes me think that that the students feel the excellence of this special place as well.
Have I ever experienced excellence? I trained as a fellow in transplantation at the University of Minnesota during its peak, and worked with many truly great surgeons and founders of transplantation. I look back at that period fondly, but at the time I was mostly stressed and tired. I think it is not uncommon to realize “after the fact” the excellence of a program or specific teacher. For more on this, I recommend the book “Strings Attached: One Tough Teacher and the Gift of Great Expectations” by Joanne Lipman and Melanie Kupchynsky. Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, these authors spoke at Interlochen. What is the common ground between these examples that gives me this perception of excellence? I think in large part it is the gift of high expectations. Expecting great things from students tends to yield great things, and not expecting great things will yield less than great, or even worse mediocre. Of course, we all need a kick in the gluteus maximus sometimes to make this happen. The trick for those doing the kicking - coaches, band directors, business leaders, principal investigators, parents, etc is when and how hard to kick – to motivate and push without creating resentment, discouragement, or self doubt in the receiver; to help them see the greatness in themselves that they can’t yet see. I guess this is the gift of those that create excellence, and something I am certainly trying to develop as a parent, lab leader, and physician. What is the result? Huggy Rao, Profesor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources at Stanford, says that excellence is “when people do the right thing, even when no one is watching.” As a PI, business leader, teacher, and especially as a parent, what could be better? For more information see: Strings Attached: One Tough Teacher and the Gift of Great Expectations by Joanne Lipman and Melanie Kupchynsky (available at Amazon or your favorite bookseller) Scaling up Excellence: Huggy Rao at Tedx University of Nevada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk7RfakBZeE  Theoretically, this should have been my first blog post, but hey, I’m not perfect. A mindset for science is really a mindset for life, but the science field is taking a hit these days and I think those either in the field or thinking about joining the field need a “mind pep talk”. Science is tough these days, primarily due to tight funding, which is not going to change anytime soon. This puts the onus on us as scientists or scientist-wannabes to (1) do the best science possible with the money we have (which we should do anyway), (2) educate the public about the importance of science, (3) understand that scientists are getting funded, and that going back to #1 will promote #3. When funding was more abundant, scientists could hide out in their offices and think sciency-thoughts all day long. Now, however, the public is less inclined to fund the esoteric stuff and demands a return on their dollar. We, as scientists, know the esoteric stuff can lead to some major breakthroughs for both mice and men, and it’s our job to educate Joe the plumber on how this works. At the same time, if Joe educates me on how to unclog my sink, that would be great, but I digress.
How do the little people, like me, at Wright State University in Dayton, OH, educate Joe Q Public? Baby steps. Get students excited about science by exposing them to what you do and how you do it – they might consider science as a career, and they’ll tell their parents how much fun they’re having. Maybe their parents will elect congressmen who also think science is important, or maybe even better mom or dad is a senator, or even president! One bonus – even if a student doesn’t go into science, you’ve helped them learn how to think and problem solve, a win either way. So, back to the question – what is a mindset for science? You were just about to give up on me, weren’t you? Curiosity is key. You’ve need a passion for “knowing” that will carry you through all the boring times when experiments don’t work. Dr. Uri Alon, a professor at the Weizman Institute in Jerusalem who has an interest in mindset and science, calls these times being “in the cloud”. Second, you need a growth mindset. Carol Dweck, a psychologist from Stanford, coined this term and has done a significant amount of research in this area. A growth mindset is one where you believe that you can learn something, rather than believing you can do something because you’re “smart”. The idea that you can do something because you’re smart, or even worse that you can’t do something because you’re stupid, is a very limiting belief and restricts your ability to learn and grow. The good news is that anyone can have a growth mindset – you just need a nudge from some good teachers, mentors, or even Carol’s book (see below). The growth mindset is extremely helpful in empowering scientists not only to learn how to “do science” but how to get funding. Like most things, grant writing is a skill that can be taught – however, many universities are so busy teaching science that they don’t teach the grant-writing part (or the mindset part). For universities that do both, this is a powerful combination that will generate terrific scientists and educators, who will “pay it forward” to future generations. Are you excited? I am! As the folks at Home Depot say, let’s do this thing! For additional information: Being “in the cloud” Uri Alon, “Why Truly Innovative Science Demands a Leap into the Unknown”, TedGlobal, 2013. http://www.ted.com/talks/uri_alon_why_truly_innovative_science_demands_a_leap_into_the_unknown?language=en Growth mindset Carol Dweck, “The Power of Believing that You Can Improve”, TedxNorrkoping, 2014. http://www.ted.com/talks/carol_dweck_the_power_of_believing_that_you_can_improve Mindset, the New Psychology of Success (book) – available on Amazon Grant writing For information and instruction on grant writing, I recommend Dr. Morgan Giddings’ website Morgan on Science. She offers live grant writing courses 3-4 times/year that will teach you about both grant writing and mindset. In the meantime, she offers a book and other materials available through her website. http://morganonscience.com Four Steps to Funding (book) – available on Amazon |
About meI am a surgeon/scientist reflecting on how to stay afloat in the crazy, awesome, challenging worlds of science and medicine. Archives
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