Abstract
In this chapter, we give an outlook about future research strategies for the tinnitus field. The core question of every scientist, researcher, research team, or research organization is: what do you need to be successful? A literature research reveals characteristics such as multidisciplinarity, open-mindedness, spatial proximity, distributed responsibility, little hierarchy, open communication, trust, innovation, and a common goal. The goal in case of tinnitus research is unambiguously clear, namely finding a cure for tinnitus, to silence the phantom sound.
Success strategies are not domain specific: strategies, which are successful in business and sports, are probably also effective in science. Thus, it is worth to have a look on a highly successful sports team, Emirates Team New Zealand, which won the last editions of the America’s Cup, the oldest sports trophy in the world, and which is managed by the founder of the Tinnitus Research Initiative. We will discuss what we can learn from the strategies of the successful sailing team and lay out what is needed in tinnitus research to come closer to our goal, a “cure for tinnitus”. The motto is: “in crazy we believe, but in science we trust.”