Achieving Success: Lessons from Hamming's "You and Your Research

Key insights

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  Hard work is the key to success in research, as even the most able people work constantly on their problems.
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  Hamming emphasizes the importance of working on important ideas with important people, even if they may not be recognized as such by their own department or community.
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  If you don't work on important problems, you are not going to do important things except by the dumbest of dumb luck.
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  Hamming's idea of making a machine do the programming was a revolutionary concept that put him at the forefront of programming.
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  Success is not just about working hard, but also about working on the right problem at the right time in the right way.
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  Great scientists believe in the theory enough to notice what's wrong and make the big change to the new theory, rather than just elaborating and extending the old theory, which won't make them a great scientist.
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  Getting your ideas clear and communicating them effectively is crucial for success in research and innovation.
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  Progress requires change, but most people and institutions resist change, so in order to make progress, you have to embrace it.