Larry M. Candell
Assistant Division Head
Division 9: Aerospace
I knew from the first project I worked on that Lincoln was the place for me. I remember coming in as a young staff member and working with a very experienced team that was a little bit doubtful of the new guy. Then I came up with an entirely new way of doing something and I remember having it work for the first time. That’s always been a fun part of the job at Lincoln—when you can actually get something that has never been demonstrated before to work.
At Lincoln, we can do technically very innovative things that aren’t constrained by how to make the most money. At the same time, we solve real problems. Our status as a laboratory federally funded research and development center gives Lincoln a very unique perspective. We have strong system and analytic skills; we build real hardware and prototypes; we interact with users. This gives us a very well-rounded perspective on the problems we solve.
Although I’ve been at Lincoln Laboratory for 25 years now, it hasn’t been one place to me. I’ve worked on a variety of projects with different sponsors supporting a range of communities. I’ve also seen many levels of the organization, so, it’s been many, many different careers for me at one place. Initially I was a technical contributor when I started as a VI-A student and later when I continued as full staff. Then as a group leader, I helped set strategic visions. Now in the Division office, I find my role more and more as being a close inspector of the culture of Lincoln and how to promote and maintain it. It certainly is true that as you move to these higher levels, the progression is toward tackling more nebulous and ambiguous issues. Embracing that ambiguity rather than looking for concrete things to do has been an interesting part of transitioning to management.
I’ve always cared deeply about the staff and what it means to “be Lincoln” and what core things make Lincoln Lincoln. To me, technical integrity is at the top. And what that means is that there is a certain very blunt, honest style here. People say what they are thinking and it is very much of a meritocracy. People at any level can have opinions and say that things are wrong or right. No one is above answering, explaining, and justifying what they are doing and why. I think that leads to a different society than one in which the person who is right is the person in charge. To me, that really captures the essence of Lincoln.
The Lincoln environment is perfect for me. I am a kind of contrarian, somewhat heretical person who is willing to think about things in a different way. I can imagine other organizations or leadership that would look askance at that, but here it is actually applauded. I’m not sure how well I would have thrived elsewhere. Professionally, a lot of what I’ve accomplished was enabled by being able to ask questions like, “Why not?” without getting pushed aside. That questioning environment is a core value here.
I am Larry Candell. I am Lincoln Laboratory.
