More sage observation from Richard Gayle on the inherent tensions between science and business.
“In a general sense, most business types are process-driven. Once you find a process, once you determine what the best practice is, you are set. If the process fails, it is because someone failed and they either need to be retrained or fired. Problems are bad. The business type is often backwards-looking and pessimistic. They know how easy it is for a company to fail.
“Many scientists are just the opposite. They love problems, especially since their ego-driven approaches to life suggest that they will solve them in unique ways. They have solved them in the past and will surely solve them in the future. This engenders a more forward-looking, optimistic approach to difficulties.”
John Gilmore tells an extraordinary tale of being thrown off a British Airways flight from San Francisco to London because he wouldn’t remove a badge he was wearing proclaiming himself to be a “suspected terrorist”.