People like Lukacs need to find organizations that are compatible with their irreverence. Although merit goes a long way, academia is VERY political especially when it comes to making tenure decisions.
Most large companies don't have a place for him either. Telling your boss directly he's wrong (even if he is) is a career staller, and going over his head will definitely give you enemies.
There are probably quite a few "Walters" here on HN who said "F* it, I'll do my own startup".
People like Lukacs need to find organizations that are compatible with their irreverence. Although merit goes a long way, academia is VERY political especially when it comes to making tenure decisions.
It's funny that you would say that, because it seems there are few environments better suited to people like Lukacs than academia. The way they see it: sure, the politics is a pain in the ass, but at least they're in an environment where they can make very substantial contributions to the world. The pain of politics is worth doing what they love.
Disclosure: my father is a very well known research professor in his field, who is always complaining about campus politics. "So why are you still there?" always gets the response, "Where else could I go to do this?" If you happen to know somewhere else, let us know.
You didn't say what your father actually researches, but there are tons of cushy research jobs in industry, if you're smart enough. Many big tech companies (MS, Google, IBM) will hire people to work on whatever they want, simply to prevent them from working for a competitor or to be able to drop names when recruiting other people.
I think what you say is very true. I know one fellow from Electrical Engineering, who was very much like Gabi. Insanely smart (did the 5-year degree in 4 years, with an A+ in every course except two), utter balls at tact and diplomacy. He actually quit his masters because he couldn't deal with the politics at that level.
That may be true, but he is already a professor so I assume that he has already covered his tenure.
And given his achievements, and speed at which he has achieved them, he is one of those people who probably won't have trouble getting tenure, no matter how much of a dick he is being.
At US schools, being up for tenure is a function of how long you've had a tenure-track position at the school. It has nothing to do with how young you are. (And that would run afoul of age discrimination regulations.) I would be surprised if it was different in Canada.
> People like Lukacs need to find organizations that are compatible with their irreverence.
No. We have to bend organizations into compatibility.
It's said that a reasonable person adapts itself to reality and doesn't try to change the world. Therefore, all the progress comes from the unreasonable ones.
Most large companies don't have a place for him either. Telling your boss directly he's wrong (even if he is) is a career staller, and going over his head will definitely give you enemies.
There are probably quite a few "Walters" here on HN who said "F* it, I'll do my own startup".