Devices & Diagnostics, Health IT, Pharma, Startups

A lesson on biotech CEO dynamics using… thermodynamics!

Venture capitalist Bruce Booth likened CEO dynamics to thermodynamics in a blog that uses scientific parlance to […]

Venture capitalist Bruce Booth likened CEO dynamics to thermodynamics in a blog that uses scientific parlance to describe leadership challenges to the nerdy biotech set. The metaphors are pretty out of control. Explosive?

For instance, as in thermodynamic reactions, Booth asserts there are two kinds of CEOs – exothermic (energy releasing) and endothermic (energy absorbing).

The exothermic CEO is “seemingly full of boundless energy, throwing off joules required to inspire, motivate and sustain the people around them,” wired with more of an open-dialogue kind of bent. However, this can also overwhelm: “Their bias to add energy can often inefficiently fuel organizational entropy; lots of heat around challenging topics can create waves of thermic disruption in an organization.” These are usually the business savvy guys.

The endothermic leader, by contrast, tends to be the scientist-turned-CEO. While they are low-key, they tend to solve problems on the solo with the office door closed – but they still surround themselves with energetic team members that can bring their ideas to fruition.

Booth also divided these CEO dynamics into two kinds of kinetic reactions: Stoichiometric (linear processes) and catalytic (non-linear processes).

The stoichiometric folks get the job done – they push forward in a logical and unrelenting manner. However, they don’t necessarily fit synergistically with an organization or have that spark of creativity that a catalytic CEO might.

“Catalytic CEOs, like an enzyme in a reaction, can have outsized impact on the velocity and performance on an organization,” Booth writes.

With the help of friend Vicki Sato (formerly president of Vertex Pharmaceuticals), Booth designed this matrix, that turns CEO thermodynamics into a bit of a Myer-Briggs equation:

Booth says the stoichiometric endotherms are likely the least success CEOs; catalytic exotherms will, in turn, manifest the most innovation. He concludes:

Picking the right CEO profile for the right business context is critical. Big science drug discovery platforms, opening up new frontiers of biology, are clearly best suited with more catalytic leadership. Asset-centric single product plays frequently do well with a stoichiometric exotherm in charge – someone who can operate a lean virtual biotech and its external R&D partners to deliver on the product strategy. Getting the leadership of a biotech “right” is as much about the CEO profile as it is about getting the appropriate team around them, and the underlying business model.

So next time you are thinking about the CEO role in a company, remember it’s all about thermodynamics and reaction kinetics.

 

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