Killing Sacred Cows is a series examining the unspoken norms, taboos, and protected assumptions in academic research that are rarely questioned, even when they undermine effectiveness and resilience. This series names those assumptions, puts them up for debate, and asks whether they still deserve pr...

This is the first in a series examining structures and assumptions in academic research that have gone unquestioned long enough to feel permanent. The last several years have stress-tested a lot of them. Some didn't hold. This one is worth naming directly.

I want to be clear up front: this is not a...

There are phrases that seep into the lexicon of work, repeated so often they lose meaning. Or worse, they begin to reshape what we find acceptable. “The new normal.” “Lean operations” (almost always referring to headcount, not process improvement). And the one I cannot stomach anymore: “Doing more w...

There’s plenty to be said about the current volatility in federally funded research: unpredictable executive orders, shifting rules and compliance notices, and open threats of budget cuts or clawbacks. These developments are destabilizing and distracting.

Even without the recent noise from Washingt...