Hey, I've been fired for step two. I'll quote "you aren't paid to walk around and think".
What “work” looks like
111–120 of 236 posts
Re: What “work” looks like
#112Software development is creative work. Creative insight can come anywhere, any time. Better ideas can make difficult things easy. And make the impossible– possible. So the most important thing on a software team (or really any team creating high technology products or services) is an environment where team members feel safe to be themselves– psychologically safe, where they can try out new things, make mistakes, fail…
> You have to be at your keyboard or lab bench or whatever enough to make things. But if you are there too much your creativity plummets.
I agree, one of the ideas that I started applying from the book "steal like an artist" involved having an analog and a digital desk for work.
You have creative ideas and brainstorm at the analog desk, then document, iterate, and refine your ideas at the digital desk.
Re: What “work” looks like
#113Hey, I've been fired for step two. I'll quote "you aren't paid to walk around and think".
This.
My old first boss told us that he is happy if we sit at our work places and are deep in the trenches of coding.
I was happy when doing databases on a whiteboard or collecting coffee and fruit from the canteen. Needless to say, I did not feel like sitting in place and hurting my back just to be looking productive.
Re: What “work” looks like
#114These ideas are intuitive, but I can't find the research backing them. The blog quotes another blog [1] which claims research but doesn't reference it. That one uses a quote from an MIT article [2], which is a perspective piece with no actual experiments. People use "research says" to add gravity to ideas, but it's important to share (and check) the sources. [1] https://paulitaylor.com/2022/05/06/the-case-against-col…
Agreed, while I prefer deep work in solitude, there is a lot of literature which suggests that collaboration enhances outcomes. Random example: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00221...
Re: What “work” looks like
#115I've had more ideas come to me after hiding in my office to take a nap than sitting at my desk. It got to be such a gold mine of solutions that I still to this day allocate 30 minutes of my day to a nap. Non-negotiable. So many hard problems that have been brought to me, or complicated needs for architecture, etc were solved by simply turning my active brain off. When I was in graduate school I'd regularly get stuck…
> So many hard problems that have been brought to me, or complicated needs for architecture, etc were solved by simply turning my active brain off.
I get it that it works but wonder what could be the logical explanation of this. I remember this method was also mentioned in the movie Turner & Hooch.
Re: What “work” looks like
#116I've had more ideas come to me after hiding in my office to take a nap than sitting at my desk. It got to be such a gold mine of solutions that I still to this day allocate 30 minutes of my day to a nap. Non-negotiable. So many hard problems that have been brought to me, or complicated needs for architecture, etc were solved by simply turning my active brain off. When I was in graduate school I'd regularly get stuck…
> So many hard problems that have been brought to me, or complicated needs for architecture, etc were solved by simply turning my active brain off. I get it that it works but wonder what could be the logical explanation of this. I remember this method was also mentioned in the movie Turner & Hooch.
Not sure at all, but one thing that strikes me is when you’re purposely “thinking really hard,” you’re probably in a state akin to vigilance. You’re trying to assess ideas quickly and move to the next one. If you’re playing with legos, an idea can just sit there in the back of your mind and tumble about a little bit into different configurations and orientations.
I think another commonality is physical activity: walking, playing, washing. There may be some chemical thing going on with muscle activity but also subjectively I have a suspicion that these sorts of activities are essentially pumping noise into your cognitive processes, helping divergent thinking, while also keeping your attention sufficiently occupied to achieve the “non-vigilant” posture toward those ideas.
Re: What “work” looks like
#117> Load my brain with all the context of a problem.
It's easy to overlook this part of the article. The loading of the brain is essential for me. That part may actually look like work. It may involve discussions, meetings drawing sketches or prototyping code. Those things may actually look like work, but the purpose is not necessarily to produce the final product (unless it turns out to be trivial), but to build understanding.
If something really requires creativity, THIS is the time to pull in the oars, take some time off and allow the brain to process. It's important to avoid other activities that grab the attention too much. The best thing is to try to avoid screen time. Maybe go for walks, take naps, spend time with friends or family, etc.
Within 1-2 days, ideas are likely to pop up, often in the middle of the night. That's the time to get out of bed, do some quick sanity checks for the ideas (a sketch, a few google searches, etc), and ideally go back to bed if possible. The next morning, the first 4-16 hours may be as productive as a month or more of "normal work".
If more difficulties are encountered, this can be repeated after a day or work or so. Eventually, though, the creative parts of a task are likely to have been solved, meaning it makes sense to spend several days (or weeks) with a more regular schedule, whether I do the job myself or spend the time destilling it into something that can be scaled out to coworkers (the ones that prefer to have detailed specifications of what to do).
This is not unlike physical exercise. A muscle doesn't get stronger from exercise, but rather from the rest that comes after the exercise. The resting alone provides no benefit, but too much exercise is equally bad. For those who need to do heavy lifting, it may be better to work fewer hours and let the body recover between each session.
Re: What “work” looks like
#118These ideas are intuitive, but I can't find the research backing them. The blog quotes another blog [1] which claims research but doesn't reference it. That one uses a quote from an MIT article [2], which is a perspective piece with no actual experiments. People use "research says" to add gravity to ideas, but it's important to share (and check) the sources. [1] https://paulitaylor.com/2022/05/06/the-case-against-col…
Agreed, while I prefer deep work in solitude, there is a lot of literature which suggests that collaboration enhances outcomes. Random example: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00221...
Not sure that literature really contradicts the original hypothesis. The abstract (can't download the full text without buying it) seems to be implying that they found there is motivation for working in groups and made work more fun (or rather, even just providing cues that make people feel like they are working in groups) but didn't really touch on innovation or collaboration as it relates to brainstorming/ideation.
I think it's important as the poster above you said, not just take the word research at face value. I'm sure that there may be studies that show collaboration can lead to good ideation and outcomes also, I just don't think this one is that.
Some notes from the abstract:
> ... examined cues that evoke a psychological state of working together ... which increased intrinsic motivation as people worked alone.
> Outcomes were diverse, e.g., task persistence, enjoyment and, 1–2 weeks later, choice.
> These cues also increased feelings of working together but not other processes.
> The results suggest that cues of working together can inspire intrinsic motivation, turning work into play. The discussion addresses the social–relational bases of motivation and implications for the self and application.
Re: What “work” looks like
#119Back when I started as a freelancer, I initially copied the 9-to-5 rhythm of „working“. That, despite having viewed this forced window of work as one of the biggest annoyances that come with a job. Over time, I could overcome this „weird“ feeling of not sitting at my desk while working. It went quite a bit like the author describes: - Load up on context and information. - Start outlining the problem. - When stuck, tr…
> However, while employed, have you tried to go out for an extended walk or do something else away from your computer, outside of the building you are required to work in? I'm 2 decades into my career amongst multiple different employers in different industries (including traditional stuffy ones), and I've never had anyone even raise an eyebrow at people wandering off for a few hours unannounced if you're billing the…
I started working from home four years ago and I have less ability to step away from my desk now than I ever had working from the office. It got even worse in 2020 after most of the office started working from home. Not to mention that teams snitches on me if I am away from my computer for five minutes.
Re: What “work” looks like
#120I forget who said it, but this reminds me of something one famous scientist said, about how most of his best ideas came to him in one of four places: the bath, bus, bed, or bar.