Twin-Win Research - Ben Shneiderman Synthesis Lectures on Professionalism and Career Advancement for Scientists and Engineers

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guidebook is meant to resemble a backpacker’s guide to hiking. It suggests paths and gives you enough information to get started, while providing enough flexibility to take side treks and enough confidence to find your own way.

      The design of these paths is based on the ideas of many people, but it draws heavily from The New ABCs of Research: Achieving Breakthrough Collaborations (2016, http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/newabcs). For some people, discovery and innovation are separate pursuits. For a researcher, however, they’re symbiotic. In fact, by pursuing them simultaneously, you’re more likely to succeed at both.

      And this parallel approach often leads to what I call the Twin Win. The Twin Win idea is to develop breakthrough theories in published papers AND validated solutions ready for widespread dissemination.

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      The idea of the Twin Win is so important that it’s become the basis of a network of research leaders. The Highly Integrative Basic and Responsive (HIBAR) Research Alliance seeks to change campus cultures and has drawn support from the U.S. National Academies and the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities. (The latter hosts HIBAR’s website: http://www.aplu.org/hibar.)

      What kind of work does HIBAR do? Lorne Whitehead, of the University of British Columbia, offered this description: HIBAR specializes in projects that:

      • seek both deep new knowledge and new practical solutions;

      • use both academic research methods and practical design thinking;

      • are led by both respected academics and real-world experts; and

      • have long-term goals and short-term payoffs.

      The HIBAR Research Alliance, with vice presidents of research and other campus leaders, held six meetings during 2017–2018 to discuss how to achieve the campus culture changes that are described in this guidebook.

      Using the HIBAR approach to achieve the Twin Win isn’t easy. That’s because traditional academic attitudes and policies make it difficult to pursue fresh strategies. Old beliefs and established policies about how to do research are tough to shake, even in the face of growing evidence that new models are more reliable in producing large positive results.

      Put another way: Changing the long-held convictions of your colleagues and mentors is a challenge—but it is possible. Changing institutional traditions and established policies is equally difficult, but these transformations are also possible. These changes are exactly what HIBAR Research Alliance seeks to engender.

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      The University of British Columbia, HIBAR Research Alliance (November 2017).

      Most change-agent handbooks note that the first step of change is for those whose work will be changed to be aware of the big problems and to identify opportunities for improvement. For example, as a researcher, you need specific instructions about what steps to take. This clarity promotes willingness to give up familiar practices and try something new. Meanwhile, any improvements you make need to be measurable; this will reassure participants, even in the face of personal resistance and active opposition from others.

      Additionally, because setbacks are inevitable, constant reassessment on your part is critical. Finally, recognition of your success from peers and superiors is essential to spread your ideas. Recognition also strengthens the commitment by others to new methods and goals.

      If this all sounds hard, it is. As it should be. But remember: It’s also possible.

      Equally important: while these ideas are meant to help you achieve personal success and raise the impact of your lab or campus, they also have a larger impact. After all, each research project helps bring broader benefits to more people. Each small contribution is a tile in the mosaic of societal transformation.

      If you want to become a visionary change agent in education, here’s a checklist (derived from https://bit.ly/2MOyAO9).

      1. Alignment and Buy-in: The change being considered should align with the overall values, vision, and mission of the initiative. Senior leadership must champion any new initiative. If someone at the C-suite level opposes the new initiative, it will likely die a slow and painful death.

      2. Advantage: If the initiative doesn’t provide a unique competitive advantage—preferably a game changing advantage—then it should at least bring you closer to an even playing field.

      3. Added Value: Any new project should add value to existing initiatives. If it doesn’t, it should show a significant return on investment to justify the dilutive effect of not keeping the main thing the main thing.

      4. Due Diligence: Just because an idea sounds good doesn’t mean it is. You should endeavor to validate proof of concept based upon detailed, credible research. Do your homework—put the change initiative through a rigorous set of risk-reward and cost-benefit analyses. Forget this step and you won’t be able to find a rock big enough to hide under.

      5. Ease of Use: Whether the new initiative is intended for your organization, vendors, suppliers, partners, or customers, it must be simple and easy. Usability drives adoptability; therefore, it pays to keep things simple. Don’t make the mistake of confusing complexity with sophistication.

      6. Risks: Nothing is without risk, and when you think something is, that’s when you’re most likely to end up in trouble. All initiatives should include detailed risk-management provisions that contain sound contingency and exit planning.

      7. Measurement: Any change initiative should be based upon solid business logic that drives corresponding financial engineering and modeling. Be careful of high-level, pie-in-the-sky projections. The change being adopted must be measurable. Deliverables, benchmarks, deadlines, and success metrics must be incorporated into the plan.

      8. The Project: Many companies treat change as some ethereal form of management hocus pocus that will occur by osmosis. A change initiative must be treated as a project. It must be detailed and deliverable on a schedule. It must have a beginning, middle, and end.

      9. Accountability: Any new initiative should contain accountability provisions. Every task should be assigned and managed according to a plan and in the light of day.

      10. Actionability: A successful initiative cannot remain in a strategic planning state. It must be actionable through focused tactical implementation. If the change being contemplated is good enough to get through the other nine steps, then it’s good enough to execute.

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      The University of British Columbia (September 2014).

      This guidebook is geared toward campus participants. These people include the following groups:

      • students: undergraduate and graduate;

      • faculty members: assistant, associate, and full professors, as well as instructors, lecturers, adjuncts, post-doctoral researchers, research scientists, and related support staff;

      • academic leaders: department chairs, center directors, deans, provosts, vice presidents of research, presidents, and others who shape academic life; and

      • administrators: program directors, student advisors, development officers, public relations directors, physical plant managers,

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