The joy of work

I love to write about people who love their jobs -- particularly people who are pretty much doing what they dreamed about when they were growing up. One such person? Jonathan Gershenzon, director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany. He grew up burying his nose in California's chaparral and, decades later, is still trying to figure out why plants smell the way they smell. You can read the piece, Making Sense of Plant Scents, at Scientific American.

Part of being a Core Competency parent is choosing work that you do best, and that other people cannot do nearly as well. This is never easy, but if you choose what you love best in the world, you're probably on the right track.