Openness is one of our five core values.
Openness is an action. It’s a positive, and proactive, choice to lean-in.
Openness: Choosing to Connect
At Fulcrum Genomics, Openness is not simply the absence of secrecy, it’s the active choice to connect—to share information, to build understanding, and to foster trust. It begins with a simple but powerful question: What do I know that others need to know?
Openness is fundamentally about communication—not an unfiltered stream of thoughts, but intentional, thoughtful sharing. It’s not about saying everything. It’s about saying what matters. We strive to anticipate what others might need to hear, and to proactively provide that context, clarity, and insight. We choose to connect.
Openness With Clients
Openness is foundational to our client relationships. We aim to inspire trust by being honest about what’s going well—and equally honest when things don’t go as planned. Mistakes happen. Challenges arise. That’s part of being human, and it’s part of doing science. We don’t hide it. We share it.
But Openness does not mean saying “yes” to everything. Sometimes it means pushing back. It means telling a client, respectfully and directly, that their experiment isn’t well powered to answer the question they’re asking, or that their design needs rethinking. It means flagging risks and limitations, clearly and early. We speak up not to block progress, but to enable it.
And when clients choose to move forward with full understanding of those risks, we support them—just as we would with informed consent. Because trust isn’t built on silence; it’s built on shared understanding.
Openness Within Our Team
Internally, Openness is essential for doing great work and for having a great work life. We believe the best teams are those where people are kind, honest, and unafraid to share.
That includes feedback—celebrating success and addressing failure. It means talking through what went wrong, not to assign blame, but to learn and grow. And with enough practice, these conversations become second nature. Openness becomes not something to brace for, but something to rely on. A muscle, not a minefield.
When we’re open with each other, we get better—individually and collectively.
Lessons From the Beginning
Our belief in Openness comes from experience. One of our founders recalls an early mentor whose simple rule left a lasting impact:
“Never hide anything, never lie, and if you make a mistake, come tell me.
How can I help you fix it if I don’t know it happened?”
That philosophy still guides us. Mistakes often stem from limited information, and what seems like the best fix locally may not be the best solution globally. When we share early—especially when something goes wrong—we unlock better paths forward. Sometimes, we even find new opportunities hiding within the mistake.
Why Openness Matters
Openness means acknowledging that we are perfectly imperfect. It means owning our errors, learning from them, and sharing them so others can help. But it also means celebrating wins, appreciating one another, and demystifying how and why we make decisions.
Openness keeps us honest.
It keeps us connected.
And it keeps us moving forward—together.