my job

[meganursula]

There you go, the essence of research, is figuring out what questions a sponsor might ask about what you did, and making damned sure you could answer them during a presentation.

Comments

[via-lens.livejournal.com]

Just today I was thinking about how much of appearing competent at work depends on being quick on my feet regarding the periphery, rather than my core tasks (which I am just expected to be able to do). This sounds like a corollary.

[mh75.livejournal.com]

You know, its deeper than that, though. I was bugging Miranda to think about an implicit assumption we were making. I don't actually have a problem with the assumption itself, but, i do think we need to think about it, be able to justify it, and consider the different ramifications of it. Since it is an implicit assumption, not an explicit one, these questions would be easy to ignore - until the sponsor surprised you by asking about it. But answering them also drives our research to be better and more complete.

In truth, thinking about the questions asked by any random group of outsiders can help spur you towards productive lines of inquiry. Since sponsors give money, that helps ensure that you're looking at things that someone actually cares about.

[eub.livejournal.com]

A mentor once commented that one of my core skills is "I don't know, and actually you don't know what you think you know either." Which I guess boils down to much the same thing.