Research and the Pasteurs Quadrant

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article specifically are my own, and may not be factual..or accurate representation of the actual business.

IBM Research: Arguably..the best place to work in..! Great minds.. focus on solving REAL problems.. I cannot resist talking about a famous example which my boss used very effectively to communicate what we should be doing, when we say research. Its an effective tool to use in your head, when deciding your large strategies, as well as small next steps in your projects. Its the pasteur's quadrant . So what really is this quadrant. Simple it just tries to classify different kinds of "research" or "problem solving"..which people embark on, by relating to pioneering individuals who more or less did research representative of their quadrant. Bohr's quest in quantum mechanics was fundamental, beyond doubt, and his findings were as complex as it could get, but the practical utility of those findings were neither his concern, nor the motivators. Edison meanwhile drove his work towards solving a very basic problem, of giving light to the mankind, and while he did not do fundamental research, and proposed no new theory.. he applied well known principles to solve a hugely prevalent problem. And then we come to Pasteur who enabled storage of milk for the world..the use case and many other works he did having huge ramifications on the daily life of individuals, while at the same time, needing deep dive into advance chemical and biological theories. The bottom left, of course the general nature of time pass we all indulge in :) The common man quadrant as someone put it.

Having mapped this in front of you.. leaves not much doubt as to the kind of research a lab run by a profit organization should invest in. Clearly the Pasteur's quadrant. And that's where IBM Research is making all the difference in the world. Focussed fundamental research with high impact on the problems faced by IBM's businesses. Inspired from another article here.. I can confidently assert that if IBM's Research was to shutdown, the IBM Businesses would severely get impacted. To add to this I would also accept that not all of IBM Research may be working all time in the Pasteur's quadrant. You most often don't land in there from the word go. If you think logically, you have to start from either a fundamental problem and nail down the business value of it, or you start from the business problems, and do some fundamental research to solve them. In essence you need to start from bohr's or edison's and move to Pasteur's. Again, depending on preference, there would be people who might want to begin at either. I personally find higher motivation beginning from edison's approach. I acknowledge that I am not as qualified in theoretical sciences to even begin from the bohr's quadrant. But the fact that I am not qualified enough is also a matter of choice. I'd like to stay close to seeing the impact of my work on the business. and ofcourse move progressively into the pasteur's quadrant. As of today I would see myself still in the transition..Of course even if  i was for some reason not able to graduate above..i'd still see the value in being just Edison :).. after all the world owes a great deal to him