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<\/p>\nSOME EASY THINGS TO DO TO IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF SUCCESS AS AN ACADEMIC<\/p>\n
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Decision Science News was recently asked to give a talk on simple strategies for doing research.<\/p>\n
Rewrite things many times.<\/strong> Someone, perhaps Woody Allen, said “Writing is hard. Rewriting is easy.”<\/p>\n Write as if you’re writing the final version.<\/strong> If it looks nearly done, you’ll fool yourself into thinking it’s nearly done, and you’ll actually finish it.<\/p>\n Read every article someone has published.<\/strong> You can’t do this with Herbert Simon, but you can do it with Egon Brunswik and many other great minds. Read 10 pages every morning into a tape recorder. You’ll be surprised at how little time it takes and how empowering it is.<\/p>\n Find your secret weapon.<\/strong> Newell and Simon made early advances in Psychology and Artificial Intelligence in part because they had access to a computer when almost nobody else did. What do you have access to that others don’t?<\/p>\n Use catchy names.<\/strong> And otherwise write like someone whose job it is to write. Who doesn’t want to be entertained?<\/p>\n Bet.<\/strong> Bet on scientific hypotheses with your research group. It accelerates the pace of research.<\/p>\n Approach people in other fields and say “have you ever thought about combining what you do with what I do?”.<\/strong> If they’re bright, they have. It may lead to groundbreaking research.<\/p>\n