I am a voracious reader, a master consumer, an expert lurker, but quite tragically a mediocre writer and a poor [yet aspiring] builder (at least according to my close friend, Dr. Imposter Syndrome). To be fair, I can draft shockingly persuasive emails to get my way, but somehow I choke when I open a blog page - ‘paralysis by analysis,’ ‘the writer’s block,’ what have you.
To address this, I decided to shift my perspective and just write. Turn on the hose and let all the crap flow out; eventually, as the wise say, the good stuff will come too, or so I hope. Here it goes!
Recently I stumbled upon an essay/lecture by Richard Hamming (more about him below) entitled “You and Your Research” while going through the Stripe Press website (I highly recommend Stripe Press for those of you interested in the future of progress). You can also find the whole talk by Hamming here:
Part I: Who was Richard Hamming?
Richard W. Hamming, was an American mathematician & computer scientist, best known for his works in computer engineering and telecommunications. He made significant contributions to the Manhattan Project & later joined the Bell Labs, where he created a family of mathematical error-correcting codes, called ‘Hamming codes.’ Hamming codes opened an entirely new field of study & solved important problems in telecommunications & computer science. However, on top of making impactful scientific contributions, Hamming observed and researched the characteristics, traits, and habits of exceptional scientists who had meaningfully contributed to the advancement of science. In this article, I attempt to unpack his talk:
Part II: ‘Is It A Matter Of Luck?’
It turns out, according to Hamming, that the ‘major objection by people against striving to do great things is the belief that it is all a matter of luck’, when history in fact shows us that ‘luck favors the prepared mind’ (Louise Pasteur) and ‘fortune favors the bold’!
For instance, Hamming explains that Einstein started thinking about ‘what would light look like if he went at the velocity of light’ as early as 12 years of age, leading to his later discovery of the ‘special relativity.’ Its true that others had also started working on this theory, but Einstein had prepared himself long ago. Edison also claimed that ‘genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.’ What I found particularly inspiring was Hamming’s observation that many great people struggled early on; Newton was not exceptional until well into his undergrad days, and Einstein was not a great student by his society’s standards. This reminds me of that memorable quote from the movie, The Imitation Game, on the life of Alan Turing:
Going back to ‘you and your research’, Hamming asserts that an important property to have in doing great things, is ‘the belief you can do important things.’ Its striking that most scientists he surveyed spent most of their time working on things ‘they believe are not important and unlikely to lead to important things.’ Therefore, it is the confidence (or courage) in yourself, which is an essential property!
Part III: ‘The Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton Has Ruined More Great Scientists Than Any Other Place Has Created’ ~ Richard Hamming
On the importance of environment and working on the right problems, Hamming observed that while those who worked with their doors open got less work done -due to distractions- compared to those who closed their office doors, they tend to work on the right problems. And whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship there, Hamming hypothesizes that “the open mind leads to the open door, and the open door tends to lead to the open mind'.”
Part IV: ‘Drive'
Hamming notes that one of his colleagues at Bell Labs, John Tukey (the prolific American mathematicians best known for the development of fast Fourier Transform algorithm), was so incredibly knowledgeable that he was surprised to find out they were of the same age. It was his drive and strong work ethics, it turns out, that set Tukey apart.
Hamming suggests that in order to be a thought leader and accomplish great things, take the time [regularly and frequently] to ask the big questions, and not stay immersed in the sea of details, where many are stuck.
Part V: ‘Tolerating Ambiguity’
There is no doubt that great people can tolerate ambiguity. You should be able to ‘believe your organization & field of research is the best there is, but also that there is much room for improvement.’ Too much of either and you will become blind to chances of significant improvements, or crippled by doubt.
Part VI: ‘Do Your Job In Such A Fashion That Others Can Build On Top Of It’
We often think that we must make ourselves so indispensable in our jobs that no one could possibly replace us. While there is merit in that idea, Hamming argues that if we desire recognition then others must be able to use our results, adopt, adapt, extend, and elaborate them, and in the process give credit where its due. It is then, that we can get promoted and move on to bigger and better things.
Part VII: ‘Selling’
According to Hamming, as a scientist you must master 3 things to sell new ideas:
Giving formal presentations,
Producing written reports, and
Mastering the art of informal presentations as they happen to occur.
Contrary to popular belief, good ideas do not simply win out automatically and MUST be well presented.
Hamming suggests that scientists must adopt the habit of privately critiquing all presentations and ask the opinion of others. The gentle art of educating your bosses is an important part of the job of those who wish to rise to the top. As is expected, we may encounter superiors who are less competent than us sometimes in our career - the clever would not complain and utilize the art of selling and the psychology of persuasion to surpass them.
Let us end with a quote from Socrates:
XOXO
Z