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| This kid could activate C-H bonds on a pyrrolidine? That's amazing! I'll travel to Tibet for her! Photo credit: Wikipedia |
Anonymous: I have personally seen the golden child phenomenon in two different companies. The golden child could do no wrong and anyone who commented about the number of choice projects he got or complained about the way he treated his colleagues in public, was instantly persona non grata. I don't know how much fraud took place but plagiarism? Definitely. Golden children have a way of eliminating their competition. The guy in charge relies on them to their detriment.
Fact-driven: I had a similar experience at Harvard. My sneaky former colleague did a "copy & paste" job to get surprising data. He told me the boss would not happy if the data is not impressive, and I could not say the truth but showed the real result. I was one of the low-evaluated post-doc by the boss. In the end the boss asked other friend to repeat the experiment and my result was proven the fact. Sames cannot be free from the fraud.I've never really worked with a true 'golden child' (i.e. can do no wrong, cannot be criticized, etc.) I've certainly worked in groups where there was a 'favorite', but the boss didn't allow the balance to be tipped to far in their direction (and also the boss wasn't afraid to remind everyone who was in charge.) I've also worked in environments where it was difficult to take credit for other people's work (and people didn't mind sharing credit, either.)
It's a phenomenon that's common enough that I think it would be educational to know what to do in those situations. While I've been sitting here trying to come up with a good answer, I think the best advice is: don't get into a situation where there's a lab member who can 'do no wrong.' (Other tips might be: don't cross the golden child if you don't have to and do good science no matter what. Lame, I know.)
Readers, clearly Bengu was the worst sort of golden child -- what are your golden child stories?
"How should you handle a golden child?"
ReplyDeleteQuit. There is no way to win in a work environment that promotes a 'golden child' system.
When you get a nice job in industry and the golden child gets laid off the tables are turned. When the golden child asks you to help them get a job laugh your head off.
Good advice Anon --
ReplyDeleteTry to avoid if you can. One piece of advice I would give incoming grad students is to talk to as many people in the group you're interested in joining as you can. Take them out for drinks so they can tell you what they really think.
As far as if you're working with one. I have had an issue where a colleague would select which projects to help and which not to help based on what they thought was hot. It was tough because this colleague performed a test we all needed to do. In this situation we learned to do without that test and also sent samples out to other labs for testing. That's the best I can offer - do your best and find a way around the barrier. One would hope you would get recognized for doing your best, but sadly this isn't always the case.
I must add, it took a while but people did catch on to this colleague's tricks.
I don't know if he qualified as a golden child but in his last years Jason Altom was the most senior and the most respected student in EJ's lab - he worked in a somewhat remote lab at the end of the hallway (with another cool guy named Mike Grogan) and going over there to talk to him included some element of awe. This respect extended to all the group members and the Chief too. Jason was reserved, unassuming and kept to himself so unless you came to him and asked for a chemistry suggestion (or for a reagent) he would not impose on your project. I did not know as much about it (because I was very junior) but my impression was that there was a very strong bond between him and the Chief.
ReplyDeleteThat's actually interesting in the sense that, sometimes, TGC is actually really, truly golden. In that case, it's probably worth really getting to know and interact with them. At the very least, you'll learn something from them.
ReplyDelete@milkshake: Were you around when Altom offed himself over that stupid alkaloid? Aside from being held with high regard, do you believe that Golden Children are held to high, perhaps unhealthy standards?
ReplyDeleteBack in my grad school, those with the "golden touch" (i.e., could offer helpful chemistry assistance) were not always synonymous with "golden children". Postdocs and grad students who fell into the "golden touch" category were consistently more respected and more respected than the self-absorbed "golden children" who obnoxiously advertised their "special relationships" with the professors.
Yeah, the TGC is only a real problem if the anointed is really not all that special.
ReplyDeleteWhen that happens, it is the boss's reputation that takes the biggest hit (i.e., "what on Earth does he see in her?!")
No golden children in my grad lab, but in other labs at my grad institute I can think of two. My experience with them was that they were honest and worked hard. However, one in particular had projects handed to him and had opportunities others in the lab lacked due to his golden child status. I think in some respects, they had problems with others coming to them for help because of their status. So, while there were certainly perks to the golden child status, there were also drawbacks for the person.
ReplyDeleteI would say that TGC is always a problem
ReplyDeletein industry, because you are competing for a
limited number of promotions/bonuses. Most of
the time TGC is just another mediocrity who
fashioned a friendship with a boss or the boss
is pushing hard for someone's (anyone) promotion
to show that he can get people promoted, thus
causing more people to want to work for him/her.
anon @4:32 : I would say Jason held himself to unreasonably high standards and was very frustrated by his inability to complete the molecule. From what I heard from other group members and the Chief, he planed to finish the synthesis in a record time and hoped for a high-level assistant professor appointment (without doing a postdoc). He had fall-back options he did not want to take (publishing "synthetic studies toward" or publishing just one half of the molecule - itself a natural product, or continuing on this target as a postdoc). The last drop was probably something inconsiderate that the Chief must have said (or done) - which might not have crushed a student less attached to his boss and his research project.
ReplyDelete