chop
The People who Move the Dial
Whether you are a business owner, a manager, or a parent, finding the right way to motivate your team is important to maximize performance and results. Each person is a little bit different and is looking for something a little different, and once you figure out what is important, you can get the most out of them. Not everyone wants to be a star – which is usually OK (as long as they have the right attitude, skills, and work ethic and add value).
Then there are those exceptional people who want to be the best, are willing to take risks, work hard, and “think differently” in order to succeed. These people are self-motivated and continue to raise the bar for the entire team as part of a high-performance culture. These are the people who move the dial.
I’ve had the pleasure of being taught by people like this, working with people like this, managing people like this, and helping a few become people like this. Occasionally, you have a few special people working together, which is when amazing things happen. These people are generally curious and wonder, “Why not?” They are confident (not arrogant), intelligent, and passionate about success.
Back when I was funding research projects, I had a trip scheduled to Philadelphia. I asked a friend at a local hospital to make an introduction to meet someone from “CHOP” (the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia). They were always ranked as a top hospital and research facility, and I wanted to learn why. The introduction was made, and a lunch meeting was scheduled. I was looking forward to the meeting but had no real expectations (other than being asked for money).
To my surprise, a half-dozen people in a large conference room with a catered lunch greeted me. They presented on their various projects (which was unusual as they did not know me, and possibly worse, knew I was involved with research projects at other facilities). Everyone in the room was amazing, and the department head (Dr. Terri Finkel) was one of the most impressive people I had ever met.
After lunch, I told Dr. Finkel I appreciated the lunch, but wondered why she went to so much trouble when I never promised to do anything in return. She smiled and replied, “We love what we do and love having the opportunity to talk about our projects and passions to people with similar interests.” That made a huge impression on me, and within a few months, we were funding projects using a unique approach that Terri suggested. The approach was in response to my question about getting the most “bang for my research dollars” (thinking more like a businessperson than a researcher).
Over the next few years, this team did incredible things that had a tangible impact on Pediatric Rheumatology and the quality of life for children with Juvenile Arthritis. Many great researchers were involved, but two of them really stood out (Drs. Sandy Burnham and Randy Cron – both continue to do amazing things to this day). The results of this team were so much better than everyone else we supported. They provided a huge return on my investment, and I can take pride knowing that I made a difference through these efforts.
To me, it came back to the basics. Intelligent people who were passionate about making a difference, confident enough to be challenged, and led by a visionary person who saw an opportunity to motivate her team and help me achieve my goals. It’s the best type of win-win scenario possible.
These people moved the dial back then and continue to move it today. It is a thing of beauty to watch stars like this perform. These people shine twice as bright and guide others toward success. And you can find them in every industry and every walk of life.
Using Technology for the Greater Good
My company and my family funded a dozen or so medical research projects over several years. I had the pleasure of meeting and working with many brilliant MD/Ph.D. researchers. My goal was to fund $1 million in medical research and find a cure for Juvenile Arthritis. We didn’t reach that goal, but many good things came out of that research.
Something that amazed me was how research worked. Competition for funding is intense, so there was much less collaboration between institutions than I would have expected. At one point, we were funding similar projects at two institutions. The projects went in two very different directions, and it was clear that one would be much more successful than the other. It seemed almost wasteful, and I thought there must be a better, more efficient, and cost-effective way of managing research efforts.
So, in 2006 I had an idea. What if I could create a cloud-based (a very new concept at the time) research platform that would support global collaboration? It would need to support true analytical processing, statistical analysis, document management (something fairly new then), and desktop publishing. Publishing research findings is very important in this space, so my idea was to provide a workspace that supported end-to-end research efforts (inception to publication, including auditing and data collection) and fostered collaboration.
This platform would only work if there were a new way to allow interested parties to fund this research that was easy to use and could reach a large audience. Individuals could make contributions based on areas of interest, specific projects, specific individuals working on projects, or projects in a specific regional area. The idea was a lot like what Crowdtilt is today. This funding mechanism would support non-traditional collaboration and hopefully greatly impact the research community and their findings.
Additionally, this platform would support the collection of suggestions and ideas. Good ideas can come from anywhere – especially when you don’t know that something is not supposed to work.
During one funding review meeting at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), I made a naïve statement about using cortisone injections to treat TMJ arthritis. I was told why this would not work. A month or so later, I received a call explaining that my suggestion might work, with a request for another in-person meeting and additional funding. Conceptual Expansion at its best! That led to a new research project and positive results (see http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/art.21384/pdf).
You never know where the next good idea might come from, so why not make it easy for people to share those ideas.
By the end of 2007, I had designed an architecture based on SOA (service-oriented architecture) using open-source products that would do most of what I needed. Then, in 2008 Google announced the “Project 10^100” competition. I entered, confident that I would at least get an honorable mention (alas, nothing came from this).
Then, in early 2010 I spent an hour discussing my idea with the CTO of a popular Cloud company. This CTO had a medical background, liked my idea, offered a few suggestions, and even offered to help. It was the perfect opportunity. But, I had just started a new position at work, so this project fell by the wayside. That was a shame, and I only have myself to blame. It is something that has bothered me for years.
It’s 2013, and far more tools are available today to make this platform a reality, and something like this still does not exist. I’m writing this because the idea has merit, and I think there might be others who feel the same way and would like to work on making this dream a reality. It’s a chance to leverage technology to potentially make a huge impact on society. And it can create opportunities for people in regions that might otherwise be ignored to contribute to this greater good.
Idealistic? Maybe. Possible? Absolutely!
Where Ideas, Experiences, and Lessons Learned Intersect 