How to Lead a Leading-Edge Lab

In a blog post at Lab Management Matters, John Borchardt discusses "breaking through barriers to change" at the bench. Lab managers, he writes, foster a "static workplace culture that can reduce productivity and job satisfaction as business conditions change and both science and technology advance," when they allow their groups to succumb to "not invented here syndrome" — wherein employees look to external solutions for their problems; when they direct their staffs' efforts inappropriately — "Many managers would benefit by applying the Pareto Principle to time management," he says; and when they fail to contribute to a "sense of enjoyment" in the workplace. As people who enjoy what they're working on are more productive, Borchardt suggests that managers must truly enjoy their own work in order to encourage their colleagues to do the same.