A Blue Collar Scientist: Changing the World Through Boundless Ambition and Company Ethos, with Kim Budil, Laboratory Director at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

One look at the news today will tell you the world is facing a whole host of problems: from political upheaval to the socio-economic effects of Covid-19 all the way to climate change – it’s pretty clear we have a lot of work to do. At times, it can really feel like we’re being overwhelmed by the issues we have to tackle.
So, it’s nice to know that there are people who look at these problems not with an overwhelmed sense of dread, but with a deep sense of determination – and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is full of those kinds of people.
LLNL is advancing nuclear weapons science, and focuses on a variety of other energy, national security, and technological research problems. The Lab, headed by Director Kim Budil, is staring down the crises that face all of us, and it’s doing so by mixing the realms of scientific exploration and entrepreneurial grit to bring innovative solutions to the table. But how does LLNL find a balance between competition and collaboration? Find out on Business X factors.
Main takeaways:
- Forge Extreme Partnerships: No company is able to do it all, especially as the challenges of today’s world keep getting more complex. The solution is what Intel’s Jason Kimrey and John Kalvin refer to as “Extreme Partnerships.” To adapt to complexity, they suggest bringing together best-of-breed companies. Acknowledge that you don’t know everything, be willing to defer to the greatest expertise, think service rather than stand-alone systems, and adapt to longer sale cycles.
- Teamwork = Success: Yuval Noah Harari wrote in his book Sapiens how our ancestors were pretty insignificant animals until they started acting as a collective. All the huge achievements in humankind, he says, are because of the ability to cooperate flexibly in large numbers. In business, teamwork is essential to a company’s success. In a 2020 issue of American Psychologist, a raft of evidence was presented to prove that teamwork can make more people smarter, more creative, and more successful while McKinsey found that diverse teams are more creative and perform better by 35%.
- Curiosity Marks a Great Leader: Curiosity is regarded by executive coaches as an ‘elite’ communication skill. According to executive coach, Stephynie Malik, curiosity is not merely asking questions, it is targeted, thoughtful questions to verify behaviors and align intentions. Leaders’ questions may be viewed by many as permission to do the same which could unlock transformational results.
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Information
- Show
- Channel
- FrequencyUpdated Weekly
- PublishedJanuary 20, 2022 at 8:00 AM UTC
- Length24 min
- Episode39
- RatingClean