Wesley Smith describes Francis Collins as a “disappointing” leader. Well, “disappointing” in the same way that Herr Hitler turned out to be a “disappointing” Chancellor of Germany.
Smith grasps the basic problem accurately. Academia has the habit of promoting good researchers into management, following the myth that teaching and research and management are all the same skill. This myth, like the other consequences of tenure, is well known and often criticized inside academia, but nothing changes.
Industry didn’t fall into this myth. Business understood that developing a car or a radio is a totally separate skill from managing a car factory or watching the finances of a radio factory. The founders in both industries were Car Guys and Radio Guys. Successful companies allowed the founders to stay in a nominal position of power and honor while hiring expert managers to run the company. The path of success avoided two opposite mistakes. Letting the founder manage is one mistake. Chasing the founder away is an even worse mistake. Disgruntled founders start new companies.
NIH and the other federal “health” tyrannies have been influenced more by academia than industry, so they promote academicians. Academicians are accustomed to rigid orthodoxy and theories.
Experienced managers, at least before the 1980 Share Value coup, were more concerned with making a profit by pleasing customers. You can’t be rigid or theoretical when your bottom line depends on human tastes. You certainly can’t be MURDEROUS, because dead customers don’t PAY for your PRODUCTS.
THEORY KILLS. EXPERIENCE SURVIVES.
Polistra's Mill 