Albert Einstein
At Sugar Research Institute, we had a small evergreen fund called ‘Bucket Chemistry.’
It was used by our researchers – all experts in their field – to run simple experiments that generated basic and very preliminary data around a pet idea, hunch or half-formed thesis.
Most experiments didn’t work out and that was fine by us. But some led to a more rigorous research programme, well-defined, well-funded, and well-supported by the Australian Sugar Industry.
And a few produced world-leading technology and commercially valuable intellectual property.
The lesson is this.
If your organisation has the means, give your people the time, resources and rope to try things out. You never know what you get. And if their ambition is stymied by your processes and procedures, they may go somewhere else.
I’m reminded of the apocryphal discussion between Thomas Edison and his associate Walter Mallory:
Mallory: ‘Isn’t it a shame that with the tremendous amount of work you have done you haven’t been able to get any results?’
Edison: ‘Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results! I know several thousand things that won’t work.’
LIneage: First appearance LinkedIn, 1/1/2025.