In 2016 I wrote the blog ‘Monetizing Being a Public Servant‘ which looked at the question, ‘what do you do after your retire from the public service?‘. That blog was an individual’s perspective of what to do post-retirement. This blog takes a slightly different view in that it asks: ‘should society more actively engaged retired public servants through an alumni function?‘
In my ongoing effort to remember what I have read, some notes on The Drug Hunters: The Improbable Quest to Discover New Medicines; Donald R. Kirsch, Ogi Ogas.
The popular media portrays pharmaceutical companies as fat cats scheming to make the most money from those unfortunate enough to require their product. While there are some cases of this, drug companies are better compared to gold-prospectors who find enough mineral wealth to pay the bills with the occasional strike-it-rich dream to keep them motivated.
Tile Mosaic – Graz Austria
New drugs are very difficult to find and bring to market. By one estimate, only 1 in 20 (5%) of all projects are funded by a pharmaceutical firm. Of these funded, only 1 in 50 yields a drug. In other words, if a drug prospector has an idea for a cure, there is only a 0.1% chance it will become commercially viable. Drug companies spend most of their effort on creating copy-cat drugs of those already approved. For original research, the focus is on drugs treating chronic conditions in which the medication needs to be taken for months, years or decades. A quick cure is a bad business model if your return on investment chances are less than 0.1%
Kirsh breaks drug hunting into a series of time frames, the earliest being simple trial, error and superstition from our early ancestor days. Botanical origins trace the role the emerging fields of science had on identifying plants that could cure disease. Industrial and Synthetic eras continue the use of science to better hone drug finding.
Kirsh is an insider with a sympathetic view (mostly) of the drug industry and thus makes a good commentator. He provides some excellent examples of both well-known discovery stories (penicillin, quinine for malaria) and those less well known (the birth control pill and a cure for syphilis).
The conclusion of the book is that drug research is not an engineering process (although copying an existing drug to create a copy cat is pill is) it relies more on luck and artistic merit; it is akin to knowing how to develop a block buster movie:
“…drug companies can never be sure that they will get a drug that works the way they hope it will. The reason is as simple as it is profound: there still are no clear scientific laws, engineering principles, or mathematical formulae that can guide an aspiring drug hunter all the way from idea to product… The thing about trial and error is that if you keep on trying and keep on being willing to make errors, eventually you will find something that works. …Big Pharma must price their few successful drugs to cover the immense costs from their myriad unsuccessful drugs.”
A good read for those interested in history, business, medicine or how did that pill get to the bottle in your bathroom.
In my ongoing efforts to remember conferences I attend, some notes on the Robert Half CEO Insights session on September 10, 2019. The Overview is found below and my notes are as follows:
Professional Development: Verified and 2 hours
In my ongoing effort to remember what I have read, some notes on an excellent, although time-warped, book: Winning Decisions: Getting It Right the First Time; J. Edward Russo, Paul J.H. Schoemaker.
Continue readingWhat exactly does government do? No, this is not the start of a Libertarian rant, this is a question of what are some of the big building blocks of a modern government as it pertains to education. My first pass suggests that there are eight, as listed below. It will be interesting to do some research on each of the blocks in sequence and see if I missed any or included too much in my first pass.
By way of clarity, this is not a discussion about the philosophy of government, the degree the state should interfere in the economy or the affairs of its citizens or the programs it should (not) provide. Also, this focuses exclusively on education although I consider education starting at birth and ending with working. In addition, there is a continuous exit and entry process. A high school student gets their first job or a middle-age person is laid off and returns to school for re-training. To this end, I am proposing that there are 8 core functions or enablers of education:
Each of the above functions transcend the Education government-function and are found more or less through out the rest of government. Conversely, there are functions that are absent or implied in the above list that are more prominent in other areas of government. For example, taxation exists in the Education function, at least in Canada, through property assessments. However, I will de-emphasize this function mostly because other areas of government perform these tasks on behalf of education (e.g. a ministry of finance).
As a straw dog and 50,000-foot view, what do you think? Have I missed a function noting the focus on education or would you remove an element? Next stop on the school bus, curriculum.
Two previous blogs* about the Experience-database (Ex-db) discussed how individuals use this tool to track what they have done to respond to job ads or consulting opportunities. Can the value be increased with the employer being part of the tracking effort? For organizations thinking of implementing a talent management tool, creating an interim one based on this thought-exercise can be a useful proof of concept in understanding what information and processes are useful before buying.
Continue readingDiscusses utilizing the Experience Database (Ex-db) to record and analyze experiences. It guides users on populating four key tables with their information and introduces job application statuses. Users can generate reports to compare their capabilities with job requirements, enhancing their resume and job application process.
Continue readingI am 50-[COUGH] years old meaning that I have been working since the 80’s or about 30+ years. If you are like me, remembering what you had for breakfast is challenging enough as compared to what you were working on years ago.
Continue readingIn a previous blog I introduced the concept of the 4 Cs: Communication, Coordination, Control & Command. These are management and organizational tools to achieve short- and long-term objectives. They also have their own individual costs, benefits and effectiveness. In this thought exercise I want to focus on the impact the above have on organizational trust.
Continue readingIn my ongoing effort to remember what I have read, some notes on Stephen M.R. Covey’s book ‘The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything‘.
Not THAT Stephen Covey but the son who is continuing the family tradition of writing. To be honest, this Covey is a better writer than his dad and the Speed of Trust is a good read. The examples are relevant and his personal experiences applying the concepts makes the book very genuine.
There is a lot to the trust model: Trust Taxes and Dividends, Five Waves (starting with the self), 4 Cores of Credibility and 13 Behaviors, whew!
The good news is that the book can be distilled down to a few key messages:
If you don’t want to read the book but want more details, the following document courtesy of Soundview Executive Book Summaries provides the highlights of the book. A Google search will lead to results and other summaries.
Although I think there are too many moving parts in the model for it to be practical the underlying principles are sound. Trust saves money, generates income, supports efficient and effective people/family/organizations/ societies and quite frankly is always preferable to a non-trusting environment.
The 1 sentence summary: trust greases the wheels of organizations, families and societies; it is a function of Character and Competence ; trust is built up over a lifetime and can be lost in an instant.
Organizational Biology 