complementary strengths. In particular, unconsciously and with benign intent, hijack a
bring your secretary flowers, talk to the meeting. Probably no constructive meeting lasts
system administrator about D&D, and more than 50 minutes, and no participant can
go to a conference where there aren’t make more than one key point per meeting (but
many statisticians. you should generally try to make a point, just to
prove you are relevant). Except when brainstorm-
Organization. This sounds mundane, ing over beer, you should never think out loud,
but it is very hard for a manager to pro- unless you are the smartest person in the room, and
mote you if you are sloppy or slow about even then it is perilous. A good rule of thumb for a
paperwork. And the discipline of quick meeting is to pretend you are one of the characters
turnaround on such items (phone calls, on the television show “West Wing.”
“
Most of us will
emails, appointments, referee reports) Most of us will hold many jobs. Our chief assets
helps in other aspects of one’s career. are reputation, capability, and social capital—not
hold many jobs. seniority. So, when one moves on, try to leave only
Our chief assets
Time Management. When I was friends behind—it isn’t always easy, as changing jobs
a young faculty member at Carnegie is usually prompted by dissatisfaction, but, after a
are reputation, Mellon, Jay Kadane shared with me this few years, things will seem less intense. My sense is
capability, and
advice: Carry a pocket diary and mark that no organization is more than two bad manag-
down everything you need to do. But, also ers (in time or hierarchy) away from meltdown, so
social capital— realize everyone goofs off some (except it is good to have an exit plan. And, each time you
not seniority
”
.
maybe Peter Hall and David Dunson). change jobs, you get the chance to learn new skills
So, don’t waste time feeling guilty about and make new friends; most of us can advance faster
wasting time—just be efficient when you by moving than by staying. In terms of long-range
actually get down to work. planning, you need to think at least two moves
ahead to achieve significant career growth, and you
Someone else would probably generate a should choose those moves to ensure an ironclad
slightly different list, but these are all key areas résumé for the position you ultimately want.
to cultivate. For those who need to stick in their job, there
One situation where many people damage are still ways to advance. Personality counts for a
their careers is at internal business meetings. lot. Try to pretend to be happy and productive.
Always be concise. Try to read the interper- Read the newspaper so you have a wealth of con-
sonal dynamics—you need to hear the sub- versation topics and aren’t stereotypically dull or
text, read the body language, and notice what narrow. You should avoid doomed projects, those
doesn’t get said. Do not pursue pet projects or that do not build new professional assets, and those
raise dead issues—the way to lobby for those is for which you are not central. I’d recommend look-
through one-on-one talks, and it can be a slow ing for projects that cross division boundaries—it
process to build support. helps to have a broad base of good opinion, and
When I joined the National Institute of you can build unique collaborations the organi-
Standards and Technology, Lynne Hare advised zation needs. When David Blackwell introduced
me to “avoid other people’s nonsense.” Help keep Cuthbert Daniel to the Berkeley statistics depart-
meetings focused; people loathe those who, often ment, he said “This man is worth 10 of us—not
because he is better, but because he is different.”
So, try to differentiate yourself. Think of at least
one new idea a week, but be properly skeptical
of its value.
36 AMSTAT NEWS SEPTEMBER 2008
SEPTEMBER AMSTAT FINAL.indd 36 8/20/08 2:27:00 PM
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