How Do You Measure Success?
Opening Pandora’s box with a seemingly simple question.
As Amy Herr notes wryly in the final pages of this issue: “A lot of analytical scientists are intrigued by measurements.” Hard to argue with that point, but the art of measuring extends beyond the numbers generated by analyses. Indeed, Amy also says that, as an engineer, conferences are important because they allow her to look behind solutions to understand the “metrics of performance” for a particular problem. Put another way, she is interested in how success is measured. And that strikes me as a powerful concept.
In fact, it opens up a Pandora’s box of additional questions – especially as success is very much dependent on your perspective. Is your new analytical method successful because it pushes the boundaries of what’s possible? Or is it unsuccessful because the extra sensitivity it provides is unnecessary and burns through precious resources? Ad de Jong raises an interesting point when it comes to the method development for non-targeted analyses. How do we know that our methods are truly optimized?
Has your analytical laboratory been successful this year because it hit all (financial) targets? Or have unnecessary – and unidentified – mistakes occurred because of corner cutting or inadequate training? Are you successful because you are now “Director of Important-Corporate-Division” or because you invest your time in others, sharing hard-earned knowledge with the next generation? Perhaps you volunteer at your local school to help inspire the success of the next, next generation.
Is your nation successful because it has assured the safety of its citizens with high-quality food and drugs (or simply shelter) or because it is rolling out more charitable and advanced programs to help resource-poor nations do the same?
Yes, indeed. Success is not black and white, but an ever-shifting palette of grey.
As we enter the autumn months of The Analytical Scientist’s third year, we are not immune to the question. I certainly hope that we have stayed true to our mission: celebrating, recording and scrutinizing the world of analytical science – but only you, our readers, can measure our success.
One thing is certain: we are all in a better place when we start asking the questions “what is success and how do we measure it?”
So... how do you measure success?
Rich Whitworth completed his studies in medical biochemistry at the University of Leicester, UK, in 1998. To cut a long story short, he escaped to Tokyo to spend five years working for the largest English language publisher in Japan. "Carving out a career in the megalopolis that is Tokyo changed my outlook forever. When seeing life through such a kaleidoscopic lens, it's hard not to get truly caught up in the moment." On returning to the UK, after a few false starts with grey, corporate publishers, Rich was snapped up by Texere Publishing, where he spearheaded the editorial development of The Analytical Scientist. "I feel honored to be part of the close-knit team that forged The Analytical Scientist – we've created a very fresh and forward-thinking publication." Rich is now also Content Director of Texere Publishing, the company behind The Analytical Scientist.
