Random bits

Just spoke with my department chair. He had some helpful advice. I submitted my tenure notebook today (this is done annually, and this is my first year to do so - five more years to go!), and I told him that writing my letter for tenure was very good because he helped crystallize my research agenda, which I think falls roughly into three areas. I won't say what they are here, as this is still an anonymous blog, but suffice it to say, if you knew me, you'd know getting me to pin down exactly what I'm doing is easier said than done. But I did, and I think I'm satisfied by the boxes and the pretty bows I've put around these papers.

To this, he said something interesting. He said "good ideas are a dime a dozen. It's closing that counts." Which means, it's very easy to come up with interesting projects or ideas. Heck, I come up with 2 a day, and have for years. I can't work on all the problems or projects I have so many. But closing on a project is hard. Right now, I only have three working papers, and none are under review at a journal. Part of this is that my co-author and I don't see eye to eye on timing and termination. So some of this stuff has been sitting with him for what feels literally like a year. In the meantime, I'm starting new things, but until those papers are at a journal being refereed, it really doesn't feel like you can put them behind you. Especially when I'm still looking to write another grant proposal by May on those very papers that are working papers.

I am a little torn when I hear advice like this. Obviously, closing is the most important thing. You don't close, you don't publish. You don't publish, you don't get tenure. And the goal is tenure, and nothing else. But, at the same time, I think my style of writing and research can be consistent with juggling multiple projects, assuming I can match with eager junior faculty who will push with me. Matching with senior faculty has advantages and disadvantages, but sometimes the disadvantages - that there's much less at stake for them than there is for you - can feel like it's not worth the advantages - like their sheer superiority in every dimension relevant to a research project, and their ability to improve the quality of your work singlehandedly.

Still, the goal of 2008 is to close. I had said one of my new year's resolutions was to create five new working papers. And it still is. I will be writing up the two papers I have regression output on in the ensuing months, which leaves me with three unwritten projects. But that's about "opening." I need a goal related to "closing." So here's my goal. I will close on five papers by December 31st. That means, five papers submitted by December 31st. I have three working papers, so that just means two more. One of the unwritten ones should be ready to send soon, leaving only one other paper yet to be written and sent out.