Newsletter Issue 6: Winter 2023
Meet an Alum: Dennis Sherwood
January 23, 2023
Five Questions for Biological Sciences Alum Dennis Sherwood (PhD '74)
What do you do?
I run my own consulting firm in the UK, specializing in creativity and innovation. That's about three things: generating ideas, of all types and on all scales; judging, wisely, between good ideas and poor ones; and building a team culture in which creativity and innovation are "what we do around here," rather something that happens only by accident, or once-in-a-blue-moon at an off-site.
Why do you do what you do?
Because I love it! Good ideas make the world "a better place," and working with organizations - from manufacturers to schools, retailers to hospitals, TV companies to universities - to do that is hugely fulfilling. And even better is equipping people with the skills and confidence to have ideas, on demand, now, so they know how to do this again and again.
What have you done?
I arrived at UC San Diego in 1972 from Yale, where I'd just done an MPhil, and I completed my PhD in 1974. What happened immediately afterwards was wonderful. Just before I had presented my thesis, a researcher had visited La Jolla to give a seminar, we got chatting and he invited me to work with him. So I spent the summer of '74 in Mexico City, with Professor Mauricio Montal! And we have remained good friends ever since - that's nearly 50 years now. Wow. After that summer, being a Brit, I returned to the UK, where I've been ever since. Over the years, I've done quite a few different things - I've been a consulting partner in Deloitte, an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs, and the Managing Director of the UK operations of SRI, Stanford Research Institute. I've written quite a lot too - articles, blogs and 15 books, including two recent ones on creativity - How to be Creative - A practical guide for the mathematical sciences (co-authored with UK Professor Nicholas Higham) and Creativity for Scientist and Engineers.
What did you learn here?
At UC San Diego, I was very fortunate to meet some truly special people - my thesis committee, for example, comprised Professors Jon Singer, Bruno Zimm, George Feher, Warren Butler and Juan Yguerabide. So that rubs off. And at the same time, I gained confidence in thinking for myself - when doing a PhD, the answers aren't in the books!
What have you learned since?
Two, rather contradictory things stand out. Sometimes - and in my experience quite often - "thinking for oneself" can be organizationally dangerous: you can come across those in authority who don't welcome it. As a student, I hadn't realized what "organizational culture" meant - now I do, and I appreciate its importance. On the other hand, thinking for oneself is enormously empowering and liberating. And as long as this is combined with some sensible self-reflection - the ideas I have as a result of thinking for myself aren't always "good" - the world can indeed by a better place!