I too worked in an R&D lab after my PhD. Which projects to fund was always a problem. No-one knows which projects are going to succeed. Do you stick with a grou

I too worked in an R&D lab after my PhD. Which projects to fund was always a problem. No-one knows which projects are going to succeed. Do you stick with a group that has been making steady progress for 5 years or switch to something else that sounds more revolutionary? Under different leaders my lab flip-flopped from "blue sky, do what interests you" phases to "we need to focus on value" phases. Neither produced anything revolutionary. But the blue skies phases did produce some useful work. Research is a risk. Funding it is like gambling. Don't bet more than you are prepared to lose.