Recently, I met a friends who used to work at a large pharma and now in a small start-up. He was very proud of the fact that in a short period of time, just a few years, they have brought 5 products to clinical trails. On the other hand, how many products the large company brought to clinical trail in the same period? 2.
He attributes such difference to the high “spirit” of people working in the start-up company and the efficiency for people to communicate with each other and get things done.
The fact that he mentioned about the “spirit” of the employees in the small company raised my interest. Many people there, including himself, had previously worked in large companies too. They are still the same person. How come they had different mode in different companies?
The answer of such difference goes to one of my theories that I called “who survives?” .
People working for a company certainly want to be there for good. In a small company, that means everyone has to work together to make sure the small company survives first. Only if the company survives, they can survive for longer time. That reality makes everyone motivated to work more closer and more efficient. The fact that they are also close to the decision making makes them feel more responsibility for the company.
It is a totally different situation in a large company. First all, most of people there feel dissociated from any decision making and do not feel as strongly as those in small company how much impact their work might have to the overall success to the company. To make it worth, the so-called modern business model invented by a few “consulting companies” makes sure that company is driven by short term business gain. Therefore judgement often handled down purely based on “business reasons” and had nothing to do about the science or the quality of the work. The environment has made people to realize that their own “survival” in the company should be the top priority.
So, put it a simple way: in a small company, the survival of the company is the most important thing while survival of individual is the most important thing in a large pharma.
People learnt that very quickly.
