ABS Blog

Now that our closets are filled with toilet paper, what’s next? The current crisis shows how closely we are interrelated and how strong and how fragile those relationships are. This is true both from the perspective of health and economics.

A few weeks ago, it would not have occurred to me to consider this as a topic. Today, it has relevance for far too many of us. As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the world, there is a run on many essentials. This seems to be especially true of toilet paper. The shelves are empty in many stores across the nation.

The previous blog spoke in general terms of how we create value. This blog provides a specific example of how we approach value by describing a new venture that we are beginning.

Creating value for ourselves and others is a fundamental issue for oneself and for organizations. It is the Why of ABS’s mission statement. Without creating value, a life is empty and organizations that fail to do so are hollow and eventually cease to exist.

All of us want to be able to count on the reliability of our own data and that of others. There is a plague of non-reproducible studies in the scientific literature. Regular complaints are heard from journal editors and reviewers. Lack of reliability varies from minor experimental inaccuracies to a complete lack of reproducibility. The major cause of this problem is inattention to factors that can be addressed by more rigorous control of processes. Unreliable data costs time, money, and sometimes careers. For a detailed discussion of this problem, see: Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions by Richard Harris.

ABS’ mission is to make your research faster, easier, and more reliable. In a previous blog, I described how we work with you to speed your research. This blog discusses what easier means to us and how working with ABS does make your research easier. At first glance easier may seem to be a rather vague advertising catch all, easier than what? For us, it is much more specific. Working with ABS should be easier than doing it yourself or working with any other organization. Two examples illustrate how this works.

This month, we celebrate with you a New Year and our 30^th year in business.

All of us at ABS are thankful for working with you, and we wish a very Happy Thanksgiving! Please enjoy and appreciate this time with family and friends. After a December break, our blog will return at the beginning of 2020.

Interpersonal issues at work can be a major cause of stress. We don’t get to choose necessarily who we work with, but we are obligated to treat others at least cordially.  All of us have good and bad days and a multitude of factors affect our behaviors in ways that can have a positive or negative effect on others. These interactions affect the overall ethos of an organization.

Lack of time, knowledge, personnel, materials, or money are common stressors at work, and in life. Too few resources can be frustrating and limiting. Lack of them can impair performance and general satisfaction. This is especially true when a lack of resources is perceived as outside of one’s control.