Research engineering becomes far more powerful when people know which role they occupy. Student, scientist, inventor, and engineer each serve a different customer, produce a different result, and demand a different definition of success.

Brian Greenforest’s four-role model gives ambitious technical work a practical rhythm from learning through discovery, invention, and client value.

Four Roles Carry an Idea Into the World

The student absorbs knowledge faster than immediate use requires. The scientist asks questions, forms theories, and builds models. The inventor puts those models into working technologies and tools. The engineer applies working ideas and established practice to solve a particular customer’s problem.

One person can move through all four roles, and an agile team can cycle among them continuously. Clarity comes from naming the current role and judging the work by the output that role owes.

Meaning Starts With the Customer

A scientist may serve a field of inquiry; an inventor may serve a future user; an engineer serves a client with a present need. Confusing those customers can make valuable research feel directionless or force a premature commercial test onto discovery.

Research leaders and technical teams can use the model in project planning, hiring, and collaboration. Name the role, name its customer, and give each phase the conditions it needs to shine.

Originally posted on LinkedIn

Brian Greenforest · Monday, January 4, 2021 at 12:54:57 PM PST (2021-01-04 20:54:57 UTC)

LinkedIn status when archived: Visible to anyone on or off LinkedIn.

Play role games, please! Research engineers shine, when they play these information-intensive roles. One role at a time, with different responsibilities and expectations. 1) Student (oh, yeah, learn more than you can process!) 2) Scientist (search for ideas, ask questions, formulate theories, make models) 3) Inventor (use the theories and models, and put them to test, to invent new technologies, tools, working ideas) 4) Engineer (use the working ideas you found as an Inventor, and already proven technologies and best practices for practical applications to solve actual problems of particular clients) Each role (you can call them "phase", and combine into something like "Scrum/Agile", with continuous improvement feedback cycles) has its CUSTOMERS. The problem of finding MEANING in life and work, is setting very clear expectations, of who is your customer, and what they want. Without understanding your role you're playing right now, it's hard to understand the problem, or pitch yourself as a solver. I don't know how about you, but as an engineer, I am inspired by the "get rich fast" religion of Silicon Valley. But it misled me as a research engineer, because the most of roles I've played were not engineering. And I lost the meaning of my work.