What mRNA Vaccines Can Teach You About Your Career
Ever since I first heard it, I have been captivated by the story of Kati Karikó, the primary scientist behind the mRNA vaccines that are helping to turn the tide on the Covid pandemic.
Karikó’s story demonstrates that it is possible to have a fulfilling career and a good quality of life: in fact, both are made up of the same ingredients.
On paper, Karikó struggled for years. Sure, she maintained a job at a top-ranked university — but only barely. She struggled to maintain funding for her work, which was scorned by her peers and rejected by scientific journals. She was well aware that her employer simply expected her to quit. She had almost no recognition, and although she didn’t struggle financially, dividing her salary by the number of hours she worked resulted in a figure that hovered around a dollar per hour.
But Karikó kept at it through all of the setbacks. One of her colleagues said that he learned from her that “that one key to real scientific understanding is to design experiments that always tell you something, even if it is something you don’t want to hear.” She had the courage to stare failure in the face when most people would have ignored or downplayed it.
And then suddenly, all of that grit, determination and pleasure she took in her work—even the pleasure in being wrong and learning from her mistakes—got her to the loftiest heights imaginable. In her mid-sixties — past retirement age in many countries — her breakthrough research finally achieved notoriety when it paved the way for coronavirus vaccines that have proven remarkably safe and effective and saved countless lives. She recently received a US$3 billion (yes, billion) grant for her work.
Most people would say “that’s when all of her work paid off.” But what really captivates me about the story is what happened during all of those years prior to being catapulted to fame as one of the inventors of the mRNA vaccine.
What exactly happened? Not much, other than she kept going to work every day for the simple reason that she loved doing it. She knew what was important to her; she had a passion for the research she was doing, found it interesting and thought it was worthwhile doing. She found a few colleagues who were willing to listen and whose respect she earned.
I wonder how many people — and especially how many women — have been on the receiving end of scorn and disrespect just like Karikó; how many of those have given up, and what we have lost because of it. Somehow, Karikó managed to continue the work she enjoyed because she enjoyed it, and was able to ignore the naysayers at least enough to avoid quitting.
Importantly, I am not sure her life would have been much worse off had her career ended as quietly as it began. She did what she loved, earned a decent enough living doing it, had a supportive family and a small circle of colleagues who liked and respected her. All of those things stretched over the course of a long yet largely unremarkable career, are probably just as if not more valuable than the success and fame she is currently enjoying.
So, what lessons can we take from Karikó’s story?
just because other people don’t appreciate your work doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing;
have the courage to listen to yourself; if you love what you are doing, maybe that’s enough — regardless of what other people say;
seek out and surround yourself with supportive colleagues, friends and family;
instead of beating yourself up after setbacks, study them: use them as a learning opportunity, rather than an excuse to give up.
What steps could you take today to help you both advance your career and improve your quality of life? You can always drop me a line if you would like to discuss.
If you would like to know more about my own story, you can do so here.