Science career ladders are broken. It’s time to rethink how we climb.

In my previous roles at multinational companies, I have been part of management teams that have been asked to pull together a ‘competency model’ - a scale of competencies that the ‘ideal scientist’ should possess.  With different roles requiring different combinations of these competencies. 

“Going for promotion?  Well, you have 4 out of the 6 required competencies at standard level, but you really should have 5… sorry!”

The trouble with these models is that the pinnacle is to be excellent in all the competencies, and nobody fits that mould.  So, if they truly are used to decide who to promote, then we are destined to always fall short.

If I take the example of Paul McCartney of the Beatles… for sure he would have failed his musician competency model at the start of his career, as he could not read music.  He did however excel at songwriting and singing.  The rest is history.

What should we do then?...

The answer may lie in the Clifton "StrengthsFinder" approach.  This framework focuses on identifying and honing an individual's unique strengths, rather than trying to fit them into a predefined set of competencies.   By understanding and leveraging our innate talents, we can not only achieve greater success but also find more fulfilment in our work.

So, instead of striving to be the ‘ideal’ scientist, we should be embracing our individuality and capitalising on our distinct strengths.  There’s that ‘Diversity’ concept again 😉