The early career researcher collaboration mindset

Abstract

Everyone knows that science is about collaboration, but the degree to which one embraces collaboration can have an outsized impact on the value one derives from collaboration. In this article, different aspects of collaboration are discussed and a list of action-oriented principles is presented to help readers understand what can be done to develop more of a collaboration mindset to get the maximal value out of collaboration.

FIGURE 1

Pyramid depicting the hierarchy of needs in healthcare innovation. Both complexity and team size increase as one moves towards making a difference, which is the equivalent of Maslow's “self-actualisation”. The complexity increases from simple straightforward questions (“What do I need?”) to changing a field at the top. The team size begins with the individual researcher and then increases to a consortium, then a community, and eventually an innovation ecosystem where all the multitude of stakeholders interact to effect a real change. Throughout the process, the driver or the currency of research are methods/assets/techniques, which require increasing levels of collaboration as one advances towards the pinnacle. There is a transition, the red line, where one moves from contributing to a field to becoming a leader. Prior to reaching the red line, the focus of one's efforts is making a contribution to the literature. Above the red line, the focus is on collaborative leadership in an effort to make a difference. Copyright ©BioSci Consulting 2022. Reproduced from [11] with permission.