My Turn - Achieving the American Dream

by Jonathan Williams

  Chapter 2

  “New Job”

  Like most new jobs, everything goes well during the first few weeks. There are three IT teams that consist of an interesting group of people. The Network Team that’s comprised of two network engineers and a manager; the Helpdesk Team which has four technicians and a manager; and the third, the Business Applications Team that consists of three technical engineers, along with Chris, two project managers, and Suzanne who manages the team. All three are overseen by the IT Director.

  At first glance, they seem to be working together closely, which is important to Chris and what he also experienced at his previous company. In IT, it’s vital that teams work together well because it makes troubleshooting issues easier. Each member of the team also has their own particular specialty and together, they’re able to resolve challenges much more quickly versus working them independently. In addition, it’s important to have experienced people on each team. Otherwise, too many novices usually end up impacting a company’s overall productivity.

  Teams are important in any environment. But, in some cases, they don’t always work. For instance, if a team member can’t deliver or if someone’s personality doesn’t fit well with others, it could end up negatively impacting the team. Depending on the severity, it could even fracture a team completely. Everyone depends on one another, so it’s important that each person does their part. It’s a relatively simple formula but one that some managers fail to grasp. Some even seem to prefer a fractured team so that they have more power.

  It takes Chris a while to open up but when he does, he’s laidback and easy to get along with. The other team members seem like they are, too. Though some are ambivalent that he’s now on the team but that’s only natural when a newcomer arrives. The new person just needs to prove them otherwise.

  During his second week, he’s introduced to other departments, which he’s happy about, and in fact is one of the reasons he took the job. At McKinley, he didn’t have the opportunity to interact with different departments. In his desire to understand more of the business side of the industry, he sees that this will help him to achieve this.

  During this introductory period, Chris is introduced to a number of good-looking women. He thinks to himself that this is what he’s been missing all these years. There are just not that many women he has been attracted to in the IT industry. As he’s introduced, Chris doesn’t make a big deal out of the ladies he meets; he just shakes their hands and moves on to the next person. He has to keep in mind that he hasn’t been hired to chase women but rather to administer databases.

  From the CEO to the maintenance crew, he meets everyone. He feels that Biokinz has a lot of good, positive energy. It helps that the company has two drugs in the pipe, and he can see that the employees are optimistic that they will be approved and that the drugs will be placed on the market. Drug approval is the sole purpose of a biotech firm. Without it, this type of company wouldn’t survive because the stock price will tumble and financing will dry up, which would be the end of it.

  Every month an “All Hands Meeting” is held. It’s when all of the employees gather together in one of the large conference rooms. The CEO addresses various topics such as the progress made on the studies, finances, etc. He also fields questions and introduces new employees.

  Chris attends his first meeting with one of his teammates. After taking a seat, he scans the audience for some new faces that he may not have seen yet. There are some more pretty girls that he wouldn’t mind meeting. He tells his co-worker that he doesn’t like being in front of an audience. His colleague tells him that all he has to do, though, is stand up when his name is called. Chris is relieved.

  The CEO starts by saying, “We’d like to welcome the new people who joined the company this month.” He flips the slide.

  “Amy Plythe.” He reads her background.

  “Chris Parks.” He stands up and the CEO starts to read his slide, which provides an overview of his experience and a little about his last company—not so shabby, Chris thinks to himself. The clapping stops and they introduce the next person.

  All-in-all, there are five new employees this month. Chris thinks that it’s promising, and it gives him some level of confidence that the company is growing and on the right path.

  His first few weeks are spent in a discovery phase: understanding which systems are maintained, the various security models, business owners, service level agreements and such. These are aspects of the job that must be understood prior to performing any hands-on activities and is a requirement for any IT job. Oftentimes, one stumbles across systems not discovered in this phase. For instance, no one ever told Chris during the interview process that they’re running an instance of a MySQL database. He comes across it, however, when he’s troubleshooting a web issue. Though it’s not uncommon to find something since most companies don’t document everything and knowledge transfer is either done verbally or not at all. It’s not the recommended method, but he’s used to it by now.

  Along with administering databases and applications, Chris gradually starts managing some smaller IT projects as well. This helps him to learn the ropes of the company. It also ties the purchase of a new computer system to the business side, along with tying the upgrade of a system to the goals of the company. One of the many questions answered by the project charter is how projects contribute in achieving the company’s ultimate goal—drug approval. It also shows what the department is engaged in and how IT is connected to that goal.

  Some of his projects deal with the lab, which is where the science behind a particular drug is conducted as well as its properties. He takes a tour of the labs and some of the scientists explain to Chris how some of their instruments work, along with their purpose in the drug development life cycle. They also point out some of the molecules being worked on. Scientists are a special breed, he thinks to himself. They are certainly dedicated to their profession. Chris thinks he’s going to enjoy working with the crew.

  “We need the fastest computers,” explains one of the scientists as Chris tours the lab.

  “I know,” Chris replies with a smile.

  “Dude, don’t give us any of these cheap workstations. We need power in here. We also need to be able to search the web quickly. We do everything on the computer.”

  “I agree.” Chris replies.

  “Sometimes the connection just hangs, and we can’t get any work done.”

  “That’s not good.”

  “No it’s not.”

  “Well, I was thinking about getting a couple of Cray computers.”

  “Are those fast?”

  “Fastest money can buy.”

  “Okay, those are the ones we need.”

  “You’re kidding,” Chris says, smiling. “Do you know how expensive those are? I’m sure there is something in between that you’ll be pleased with. And if those don’t get approved, I saw a sale on Dell’s. I think they’re five hundred per desktop.”

  “Dude, come on.” Neal starts laughing.

  “I know you guys need faster machines.” They’re laughing but the computers they’re working on are slow and old. Chris isn’t sure how they’re managing.

  All departments have their own personalities but R&D (Research & Development) really stands out. Scientists have their own world similar to IT brethren, and everyone respects each other’s space. They seem to have their own quirks and keep to themselves; yet when required, they collaborate on their research.

  Chris also starts to understand the Clinical Department. One of its main purposes is to set up drug trials. For instance, it manages the number of patients in the trial and the setup of a study. Items such as who takes the placebo versus who receives the actual trial drug, and the length of the study are all established by this department. It also interacts quite a bit with vendors. Since several aspects of the trial are managed by them, the Clinical Department is responsible for vendor management particular to the trial.

  But the Drug Sa
fety Department, responsible for tracking patient data, is the one that Chris is going to be working with the closest. It manages the adverse events of a drug during the trial phase as well as any safety issues. Basically, if a patient worsens or has a side effect to the medication, it’s the Drug Safety Department that tracks it.

  There are other departments which IT works with, too. Biostatistics, Finance and HR are a few that Chris will also have projects with. Each department works together to achieve the filing of the NDA (New Drug Application). The NDA marks the end of years and years of research. It gets submitted and if approved, the company has an FDA approved drug. The stock then sky rockets and several employees become millionaires or billionaires even. Not to mention, there are some happy patients as well.

  Biokinz is currently working on a disease that does not have a cure or an approved drug on the market. And because there’s not one, it means that the company is entitled to a fast-track path, which is a way for a biotech to bypass several steps in order to get a drug to market much quicker than usual. It’s a good concept as the one requirement is that there’s not a drug on the market yet. Plus anybody with the targeted disease will take practically anything to ease the pain. Maybe this explains why medical marijuana is in such high demand. It doesn’t cure a disease but does make life more bearable for those who are ill because no one wants to live in pain.

  The particular disease that the scientists are working on at the company is fatal. Whoever is diagnosed with it would live in pain and their life would be cut short. Biokinz is looking for the cure. However, if they can improve the quality of life with an effective drug, even if it doesn’t save people, the company can still get drug approval.

  As time goes on, Chris meets several people on the business side of the operation and slowly begins to understand how it all works. It’s interesting to see. The costs to conduct a study are high, and the statistics for getting drug approval doesn’t favor the company. In fact, in recent years, several companies failed in their studies. However, for the ones that did succeed, the rewards were enormous. The drugs that these firms worked on are estimated to be worth billions. It’s no wonder that the managers of the various departments that Chris works with are under so much pressure. They not only need to get a drug approved but must also beat other companies to the market. If another company succeeds, a great deal of market share will be lost. Moreover, the Wall Street analyst assigned to write about the company will not provide a positive critique of the firm, which would also bring down the value of the stock.

  As time progresses, Chris comes to the realization that the real drug war is not south of the border but on Wall Street. The real money is won on American soil not on Colombian or Mexican soil like so many people think. Millionaires and billionaires are born in this industry.

  Biokinz is a fast-paced work environment; they operate lean and are always up against tight timelines. Chris wears multiple hats as he learns how the business operates. Most of the people he works with are friendly and sharp and everyone seems to play well together.