life-twists

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Saudi Arabia - Freedom?

A Reason to Leave Home The title of this blog is “life-twists.” One of the biggest twists in my life was my move to Saudi Arabia in September 2009. Before moving to Saudi Arabia, I worked for more than 20 years in a government-funded research center in Germany. I was head of a research team developing polymeric membranes for gas and liquid separations most of this time. It was an excellent time, and I loved my work, my colleagues, and even my bosses. But things changed for the worse after two new directors were appointed (rumors say that one of these two was fired recently, too late for me). Sometimes you meet people in life with whom you are not compatible; don’t wait too long, leave them alone, focus on your goals and ambitions! New Horizons I searched for a new position, and four more group leaders did the same. By a happy coincidence, I learned during a vacation in Norway that Saudi Arabia had started to build a new technical university, the private King ...

Fake Technologies

What is our motivation to do research? It can be curiosity, or we want to invent something which makes our life easier or healthier, or we are looking for more sustainable production processes. There are many different motivations. One which is usually not mentioned is fame. Most of us scientists want to discover and present something, which gets us much attention. We want to be highly cited. Nothing wrong with this, but one should not trust researchers whose primary motivation is this craving for attention. A popular topic is the fight against climate change. In my future post, I will show how fame-hungry scientists are sometimes not telling the whole truth. In preparation, will be published in about eight weeks

Laozi's Advice for Good Leadership

In my previous post, I wrote about bad leadership. As a practitioner and teacher of Tai Chi, I discovered the Tao Te Ching or The Book of the Way many years ago, which is said to be the most widely translated literature work after the bible. It is the classic text of Taoism. An excellent introduction to the Tao Te Ching is given in a book review published by the Guardian in 2013: The Tao Te Ching by Laotsi : ancient wisdom for modern times. Consider what Laozi said about leadership. "When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware that he exists. Next best is a leader who is loved. Next, one who is feared. The worst is one who is despised. If you don't trust the people, you make them untrustworthy. “ The Master doesn't talk, he acts. When his work is done, the people say, 'Amazing: we did it, all by ourselves!'"

Good advice for bad leadership

Some of you might know Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935). He was a writer and one of the most influential journalists of the Weimarer Republic. In 1931 Tucholsky wrote a short essay entitled " Ratschläge an Einen Schlechten Redner (Advice for a Bad Speaker)." This inspired me to write: Advice for a bad science manager You are head of a large research group, e.g., a research institute director. This is not an easy job, and it is vital to follow some rules. Rule number one: don't trust your subordinates. Trust can always be abused. Be aware that there are always individuals who want to question your authority and disempower you. If you trust these individuals, you are lost. Hence, it is of great importance to identify these traitorous individuals. Pick out the 10 percent of your subordinates who are creative, who love their work, and who are successful. Usually, the dangerous ones can be found in this group. Restrict their power and influence, dim t...