Thrashing
A group of scientists have a meeting that results in setting up a collaboration.
The excitement is high.
The next series of events will be easy.
A paper to find.
An email to send.
Next
A reference to find.
A sequence to order.
Followed by:
A post doc assigned to get the ball rolling.
A grad student that learns along the way.
A set back.
It should be easy.
The 3 weeks are now 2 months.
Money has been spent.
Post doc is moving on
Student is near graduating
Something must work! What do we do?
How can we salvage a paper from this work?
What results do we need for this grant?
We need to have a meeting.
Coming up with projects is easy. Setting up collaborations is easy.
Trash at the beginning
How long will this project take?
Who will be responsible for which results?
When are the results to be expected?
What is the plan, if the results are poor?
What will the first paper include?
What journals accept this type of research?
How many papers should we expect?
How does this help our next proposal?
When will we move on?
Be obsessive about the projects you start and committed to finish. Decide now.
Result: By knowing exactly what the project entails, you will reduce distractions.
Inspired by Seth.