Nerds and Billionaires: Let scientists out of their boxes

When I came home to Australia to head up the CSIRO, I was on a panel and the moderator told me I was “just a scientist”. The implication was: what would you know about business?

                                                             Artwork: Tom Jellett.

Reviewing some of the television interviews given by my predecessor, Megan Clark, I was shocked to hear her called a “head of the nerds”. She laughed it off, but I don’t think I could have.

After 26 years in the US I’d forgotten what Australian culture thinks of scientists. Sure, they’re smart, they’re achievers, and they’re important — but don’t ask them about anything other than science.

Science becomes very specialised very quickly, and so do markets, so you need to be an endlessly curious person who isn’t afraid to ask questions. That’s definitely at the heart of science training and, I think, at the heart of the best business training. But just because you study science doesn’t mean you can’t do business. 

In fact, it may prepare you to run companies far better than management courses do, especially in the innovation revolution.

Read the piece by the CSIRO’s chief executive officer, Larry Marshall -  “Nerds and Billionaires: Let scientists out of their boxes.”