“When you cease to make a contribution you begin to die.”

One of the biggest ongoing issues I have observed over the years is that team members start out with enthusiasm and excitement and then slowly lose that enthusiasm until they end up just going through the motions. This can be a big issue for team Founders because they may need the help but don’t know quite how to deal with members who cease contributing to the team in meaningful ways. It’s even worse if these members are personal friends. Some members—especially new members—have been conditioned by TV shows that anomalous research is always dramatic, exciting, and fun. The truth is that, while there can be moments of excitement, anomalous research is usually uneventful—sometimes even monotonous. The unfortunate result is that the interest...