The Obsession with being Number One

As I travel around the world, increasingly I have found that assessment and evaluation systems are getting in the way of why one should pursue a career in the sciences. So many scientists and institutions are striving to be at the very top of their fields, but do not realize that being the best is often the enemy of doing better. For these scientists, good is never enough; there is always more to do. They must outscore and outperform all their peers. All this leads to nothing but a vicious academic rat race. It is too easy to forget that if you win the rat race, you are still a rat.