At a time when scientists and politicians are trying to raise the federal investment in research, selling it not just for its intended work but its benefits to society, we see the emergence of criticism of some of the culture in the federal research agencies. Specifically, an astronaut has apparently created a video satiring the innovation-suppressing culture at NASA [1]. The video is on YouTube [2]. It portrays the negative aspects of the NASA culture, as collected from an agency exercise to identify such problems.
It’s a curious piece. It’s fiction, but based on incidents that happened to people involved in the making of video. Taken as a sum of problems revealed by the exercise, it’s a harsh criticism of the agency, painting it as avoiding innovation to stick to an agreed-upon plan. The agency is, in the end, contrasted with the perceived culture at a place like Google.
You may or may not agree with the characterizations presented in the video, but it’s worth using the questions it raises to look at your own research culture. Is it encouraging the innovation and deep thinking that we claim our enterprise produces?
[1] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100346538
[2]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_424YskAfew
