When Scientists Take Bad Advice....

If only the people dispensing bad professional advice,
actually wore this label. 

A colleague (and friend of over 10 years) was recently pushed out of a job that she meant to keep for the remainder of her career.  She didn't do anything (criminally) illegal, waste her employers' resources, or commit any kind of timesheet fraud, or call in sick from Disney World.   She took some bad professional advice and paid dearly.

This colleague had the pleasure (or displeasure, depending on the day) of overseeing construction compliance with water projects in Annapolis, which happens to be the Maryland state capital in addition to being nearly surrounded by water.  This means a few things:

1.  Some people in Annapolis expect to be able to access (or build over) the water, regardless of laws.
2.  Most people with waterfront property in Annapolis have access to disposable money.
3.  Most people with waterfront property in Annapolis have access to political influence.
4.  Most people with waterfront property in Annapolis have access to good legal counsel.

In other words, if you have to deal with these folks in a situation where they want you to approve something you're not sure you can legally approve, you'll need to be highly competent, extremely patient in the face of petulance and immaturity, and have the good fortune or good judgment to be receiving good counsel, both in a legal sense and in a mentoring sense.

My friend, at her former job, had all of those things except a good mentor.   She worked on several contentious cases over the years, and worked diligently.  Although there were many complaints, that could be seen as a reflection of doing a good job in an "enforcement" position.   I mean....maybe.  But then she encountered one of "those" people, asking for permission to build something that my friend wasn't sure she could approve.  The person proposing the work was:

1.  Someone in Annapolis who has been very effective at getting his way with water regulations.
2.  Someone with access to disposable cash (in a general sense).
3.  Someone with a great deal of political influence
4.  Someone who was, in fact, a lawyer with a license to practice.

Letters from the "lawyer with free time" and my "stick in the mud colleague" flew back and forth for months.    Very little progress seemed to be made with each volley.   My friend then asked an elder colleague, someone who is very politically insulated, how she should handle it.  She was told that "if it were him," he would reject the proposal outright, partly because the final approval window was closing just two days after she received the last volley of written responses.  

My friend denied that permit. Such a denial gives the permit applicant 7 days to file an appeal in circuit court, which he did.  The court summarily ruled against the state, calling the permit rejection "arbitrary and capricious" and directing the agency in charge to issue permits within 7 days.    Eventually the permit was issued, and the project was constructed.

The person seeking the permit still has his job.   The elder environmental spokesman dispensing bad advice to my colleague still has his job.  But my colleague does not.  How is that possible?

I suppose I don't know how to answer that without saying, "We all have to be grownups."  If you're 25, or 30, or 40 or 50, and you take bad advice from someone who is your senior, you'll be the one held accountable for the lapse in judgment.  Unfortunately, I've been there - I'm glad it did not cost me a job.   But this is how life works.   All of us have college degrees.  Most have a graduate degree or some amount of graduate school under our belts.  If you aren't sure when you're getting good or bad advice, have a plan in place to ask others around you.   Keep an eye on whether you can stomach the (realistic) possible consequences of taking such advice - just as if it were your own idea on how to handle the situation.

It's true that in a highly functioning work environment, your fellow professional would stand up and say, "That's my fault - I gave poor advice and the junior staff took it."  But that kind of admission is rare in both corporate and government offices, and you'd be foolish to expect that level of protection, especially if you are considered by others to be a "junior" employee.

Networking and giving/receiving advice are critical to your success as a scientist.  But just because something wasn't your idea doesn't mean it doesn't count, once things go wrong.  Hasn't that been true in other phases of your life?  You know, your parents with that dumb, "If your friends all jumped off a cliff....." story?

If a senior colleague with nothing to lose tells you, "Go jump off that cliff, I'll be right behind you!", you'd be best to seek the counsel of another colleague to confirm the plan.