ABS Blog

Our primary source of ideas for innovation is founded in the challenges and concerns of our clients and staff. ABS began thirty-one years ago based upon the observation that a large amount of a researcher’s time was often spent growing cells and sourcing and preparing tissues (both animal and human) prior to even beginning an actual experiment. These tasks delayed discovery and expended valuable resources. This knowledge led us to become the first company to address this problem by providing custom cell culture services, prepared membranes and cell extracts, and founding a global network of human biospecimen collection sites. Today, such outsourcing is commonplace. In 1990, it was highly innovative.

In a growing organization, employees should be the key drivers of change. They can also put the brakes on new innovations if they are not an integral part of the change process. It is the collaborative interactions between clients, staff, and management that make meaningful changes happen.

The previous post discussed the need for change in a changing world. That the world and business are rapidly evolving is obvious. The challenge is to decide, of those things that we can control, what should we change?

During difficult times the answer is simple: The status quo isn’t working. During good times, the argument for change is more questionable. ABS is growing at a high rate. So why are we discussing change? Why change when what we are doing is working? Why should any organization embrace change? During good or challenging times, change is difficult. In the first case, resources may already be strained and putting out fires may have become a full-time occupation. In the latter case, complacency, fear, inertia, and fallacy that the good times will just continue are obstacles to change and innovation. However, it is during the good times that change can lead to greater rewards than mere survival.

ABS was founded in 1990. We grew steadily during the subsequent years. We added new staff and new products and services that complemented our human biospecimen and cell culture services. Nearly two decades ago, we highly computerized our operations. We developed our systems for scalability. We became ISO9001 certified to ensure client-focus quality processes. Now, we are in position to capitalize upon those efforts.

What do these three things have in common? There are a lot of parallels. Even though the scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that the risks of COVID infection are far greater than the potential and unlikely side-effects of COVID vaccination, one can avoid or delay vaccination. One can choose not to get vaccinated and view this as a personal choice. This is clearly a personal choice, but it is also far more than that. This is where the analogy with running red lights comes into play.

Several years ago, I came across this written on a wall at an art exhibition in Venice and took the above photo. It is a good follow on from my previous posting on change in business and also those on COVID. So often people are afraid to take the next step that could move them forward because of fear.

Why are you doing this that way? Why aren’t you doing it another way, etc.? Why are you doing it at all? These are questions that we should be asking on a routine basis. It is a way to improve continuously rather than reactively responding to issues as they occur. Processes can become the ghosts of needs that no longer exist. They continue to inhabit our organizations because they are not brought into the light. These ghosts reduce productivity and sap resources. Why then do they persist?

Of all the data on COVID infections, deaths, and vaccinations, one recent statistic is the most telling. 99.5% of the people dying of COVID in the U.S. were unvaccinated. Nearly all vaccinated people are protected even if they might rarely suffer minor or modest illness. Most of us know this, but some are still waiting for more evidence ruling out potential unknown future risks. Others are concerned about extremely rare side-effects that are not as prevalent or as risky as serious illness or death from COVID.

Drug discovery is the ultimate goal for many of our clients. Speed is essential in the quest for new therapeutics. Most importantly, this is driven by the urgent search for cures and treatments for illnesses. It is also driven by financial concerns because anything that can shorten the time to market means larger returns on investment. Unfortunately, drug discovery is a long and expensive process.