tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87846658927052144952024-08-29T19:20:20.365+09:00Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310640897232562158noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784665892705214495.post-63958237621107992732010-06-07T00:10:00.000+09:002010-06-07T00:10:51.174+09:00I've always thought that I had no patience. I can't do one thing well like a specialist. But that doesn't mean I don't work hard. In fact, I consider myself a much harder worker than most of my specialist peers.<a aiotitle="click to expand" href="javascript:togglecomments('100606')">Read more...</a><br /> <div class="commenthidden" id="100606"><br /> The thing is though, if you follow the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle">80/20 rule (aka The Pareto's Principle)</a>, I just don't see why I should take anything beyond a certain level of expertise. If I take the energy I spend in making one thing from 80% good to 90% good or even to 99% good, I could make 5 other things from 10% good to 80% good. And anything that's 80% good is enough to beat the average don't you think? Is that enough for me to survive? Well, so far so good...<br /> <br /> Maybe I say this because I'm interested in too many things, but I just don't have the patience nor the talent to take any of them to the level of real expertise. Then again, where do you draw the line between a generalist and a specialist? Does having a PhD or MBA make me a specialist? I don't think so. I simply consider myself a well educated generalist. My titles and languages allow me to speak with scientists and businessmen, but not for me to lead any specific scientific or business project. For that, I need more expertise. I think.<br /> <br /> But as I get older, I find that more and more I restrict myself to my three main career assets: my science, business know-how, and my languages. At work, I try to reduce focus on anything that is not pre-clinical science and clinical science. It's a good feeling to see that boundaries of what I want to learn and gain as experience. Finally I don't have to feel obliged to learn everything that comes my way.<br /> <br /> <br /> </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310640897232562158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8784665892705214495.post-28887929491445398052010-05-24T00:01:00.001+09:002010-05-24T00:10:24.059+09:00Let me start today to document some of my thoughts on my career over the years. This is mostly for my own thought organization, as a guide for myself going forward, but if it could be useful for anyone out there, then bonus.<a aiotitle="click to expand" href="javascript:togglecomments('100524')">Read more...</a><br /> <div class="commenthidden" id="100524"><br /> So let's get the introduction out of the way. I was born in Hong Kong, to a Taiwanese and Japanese mother. I grew up in Taiwan, went to an American elementary school, moved to Quebec, Canada to go to high school, then I went through university in biology in Montreal, graduate school in DNA repair in Quebec City, and finally a post-doc in transcription and an MBA in finance in Tokyo. As I finished up my post-doc and MBA, I moved directly from frontline bench work to working in the CEO Office of a large pharmaceutical company doing R&amp;D Management. So there you have the ultra-short version. For more details, please visit my <a href="http://language-tetsu.blogspot.com/">language blog</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04310640897232562158noreply@blogger.com0