Members Lounge

Past Meetings

April 15, 2008
Marc Garneau – First Canadian Astronaut
Time (and space) for change

What better way to spend a morning outside of school? A speech by famous Canadian politician and ex-astronaut, Marc Garneau. And what better person to speak to the PMCQ about change than him? Being the first Canadian in space, Dr. Garneau knows the meaning of hard work and knows what it takes to be successful. Given that the pharma industry is a continuously changing machine, he couldn’t have picked a better time to share his insight with us.

Dr. Garneau’s emphasis on change made it evident how often we get stuck in the same old routines. The older we get the more narrow-minded we become. Doesn’t life become boring? We get pushed into our own little corners where we are afraid to try something new. Change creates opportunity, and through these opportunities we can potentially change the world. We can find a new cure; make something more efficient, etc. Although Dr. Garneau made it sound so easy, he also made it clear that teamwork is also essential for change to happen.

Teamwork isn’t just about working with your fellow business partners, it’s about getting to know the people you work with. Communication, training, time, money, and risk are all critical in order to avoid catastrophe, but in order to achieve any sense of teamwork we have to be willing to change. When an individual is unwilling to change it compromises the work of the entire crew.

By working efficiently as a team we can manage change. Through change comes constant reinforcement and refreshment. We become re-motivated; to work harder, train harder, and do whatever we do better than ever to achieve the success that’s demanded of us day-in and day-out.

As long as the pharma industry continues to change, there must be strong emphasis on teamwork and perseverance. And as long as there is a motivational speaker at a PMCQ meeting, I must get the day off school. Thanks to Dr. Garneau, I definitely learned more than I would have in the classes I was supposed to be in.

Written by James Hammond
16-year-old John Rennie High School student