Method vs problem orientation

The goal matters, not the means how your reach it.

Some scientists work on pre-defined problems; others come up with their own. But how many of them are thinking about why they are solving that problem in the first place?

Both applied and basic researchers can solve useless problems. In the words of John R. Platt:

“We speak piously of taking measurements and making small studies that will »add another brick to the temple of science.« Most such bricks just lie around the brickyard.”

The bricks produced by a routine application of your signature method are probably doomed for the brickyard. Especially, if that's the only reason you are solving the problem, which you do not really care about. John R. Platt again:

“To paraphrase an old saying, Beware of the man of one method or one instrument, either experimental or theoretical. He tends to become method-oriented rather than problem-oriented. The method-oriented man is shackled; the problem-oriented man is at least reaching freely toward what is most important.”

Being associated with a method signals expertise. It takes time to reach mastery, and the sunk-cost fallacy makes it hard to abandon any method. But clinging to it provides diminishing returns. In the words of Paul Graham:

The persistent are attached to the goal. The obstinate are attached to their ideas about how to reach it.

Dig Deeper