During another battle with insomnia, I read about an intriguing career guide, written in the form of manga (Japanese comic), titled "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko." It was written by Daniel Pink, who has served as chief speech writer to Al Gore and as an aide to US Labor Secretary Robert Reich, in addition to writing a "trio of provocative books on the changing world of work." I read the whole book in one sitting (or, more literally, standing) at Books Kinokuniya at Ngee Ann City this Sunday. The book had six simple, yet powerful lessons. I highly recommend reading it on your own sometime, but below is my interpretation of the author's main points:
1) There is no plan: I came to Singapore with the vague plan of "spending a year abroad" before starting grad school. As a result, my professor's plan for a research project became dominant. I deeply regret not being open to more options about how to spend my time. In particular, I really wish that I had become a private tutor (possibly in presentation skills), which could have tripled my monthly income and introduced me to many new Singaporeans, outside of lab.
2) Forget about your weaknesses: It's still hard for me to accept my "weakness" of working shorter hours than pretty much else in the group. However, things improved when I focused on my strength of giving effective presentations. After giving a lesson at group meeting about presentation skills, I am now helping edit papers, organize lab cleanings, and revise presentations, in addition to my research duties.
3) Persistence trumps talent: I don't feel like I have much innate talent for science, but I do believe that my persistence has been one of my positive qualities. I see it especially with my running, which can often make me feel like Sisyphus. Numerous times I have trained for months to build up to running a marathon, only to be struck down by a cold or other ailment, and needing to start back at the beginning.
4) It’s not about you: The most enjoyable times in lab have been when I have directly helped others: working with a grad student to improve her group meeting presentation, assisting a post-doc with his plans for a novel type of molecular motor, or using my skills as a native English speaker to help my professor edit various documents.
5) Make excellent mistakes: I'll need the benefit of hindsight to understand my "excellent" mistakes. However, I think this is an awesome piece of career advice.
6) Leave an imprint: As I've mentioned above, there is no way I can compete with the other members in lab in terms of the sheer quantity of experimental results. However, I hope that I can demonstrate some of the non-technical aspects of science that I have learned through various research experiences back in the United States.
