CONSTRAINTS OF A SYSTEM: Opening Vents Underwater
Constraints of a system are parameters that the system obeys and cannot change.
There can be many constraints, yet the system’s goal is the most important. For instance, becoming filthy rich in academia is impossible—the salaries have low ceilings, and no end-of-the-year bonuses exist because the system works to produce knowledge and educate people, not to make money.
Joining a bank might make you rich, but you will not regularly generate and publish socially relevant knowledge. (We can safely discount the reports they publish.) In many jobs, both are impossible—one does not generate new knowledge or money.
The system’s goal can be at the surface, yet many system’s constraints are not always obvious. They might not be evident to people in the system for many years. Sometimes, especially to them.
Thus, observing and asking questions can help you understand the system better. Look at the output. What journals does this lab publish in? How fast did Ph.D. students publish their first paper? How long did it take to defend the thesis? What did they do after having defended? Where are they now? Have they been coming to the lab for reunions, or did they flee from the lab as from a pest house the morning after the Ph.D. party? {CRAPPY JOINT, CALIBRATE YOUR PERCEPTION}
Analyzing answers can give you insights into the system, which is particularly critical when you envision joining the lab or unit. {KAIROS, BLACK BOX APPROACH}
Lab infrastructure can be an unsurmountable constraint. I knew of one Ph.D. student in the late 90s researching hedgehogs in a lab with almost no equipment. When heart rate variability was all the craze, and people computed sophisticated coefficients from digitally measured heart rate and debated if 200 samples per second were adequate, the student analyzed graph paper ECGs and calculated the heart rate with a ruler and pencil. She couldn’t advance science or her career significantly—the system’s constraints would not allow it.
Availability of resources is a common constraint. For instance, your Ph.D. project is not just some time you throw away from your life in exchange for the title—it is a significant development step that forms you as a future researcher. The influence of supervision is pivotal, and the knowledge the supervisor has and the time she spends mentoring you are resources that significantly define your future career. The supervisor’s knowledge, goodwill, and the time spent on you can be constraints. If all you get is 15 minutes at a monthly update, it might not be enough to become an expert. It might be enough to learn specific methods and pursue a career in some pharma sweatshop, but becoming an expert researcher takes many hours of mentoring. {ABUNDANCE OF RESOURCES, JUST IN CASE}
Our physical parameters are constraints, like it or not, and all else being equal, a physically attractive person will be more convincing. {check Mello et al., 2020}
If we are “vertically challenged” with a funny squeaking voice, we will have difficulty convincing many people of anything, even listening to us without a smile. We will spend many resources to get what others have by default.
Attributes we consider positive can be constraints, such as a friendly atmosphere in a group. A member can value it more than the flimsy benefit of discussing a potential problem; thus, cohesion ushers in groupthink and compromised decision-making.