Coming soon · Book Profile

Lib6923ecc46c5c9276

A legendary computer scientist reveals that greatness is a learnable style of thinking, teaching readers how to cultivate a vision, work on important problems, and make significant contributions in science and engineering.

A profile of this book is on the way.

Get the book →

What it’s about

In 'The Art of Doing Science and Engineering,' Richard Hamming argues that the difference between a good scientist and a great one is not innate genius, but a consciously cultivated 'style' of thinking. Drawing from his storied career at Bell Labs alongside luminaries like Claude Shannon and John Tukey, Hamming moves beyond technical instruction to teach the reader how to learn, how to choose important problems, and how to develop the vision and courage necessary for groundbreaking work. Through a series of personal anecdotes, reflections, and analyses of great discoveries, the book serves as a masterclass in intellectual craftsmanship, aiming to transform the reader from a passive follower into a leader who makes significant, lasting contributions to their field.

The through-line

Who it’s for: An ambitious scientist, engineer, or student who wants to make significant, lasting contributions to their field. They are competent and hardworking but feel there's a gap between their current work and the 'great' work they aspire to do.
The problem: The reader works in a field with an overwhelming amount of information, rapid technological change, and constant pressure to focus on short-term, incremental tasks, leaving no clear path to work on truly important problems. They feel frustrated, uncertain, and anxious about becoming obsolete. They doubt they possess the 'genius' required for greatness and fear spending their one life on trivialities.
The plan: Develop a Vision: Consciously formulate a long-term goal for your career, even if it's imperfect.
Choose Important Problems: Regularly set aside time to identify and focus your efforts on the most significant questions in your field.
Master the Fundamentals: Prioritize learning deep, lasting principles over transient technical details to ensure you can adapt and learn new fields.
Cultivate a Creative Style: Practice habits like working with an open door, tolerating ambiguity, inverting problems, and questioning assumptions.
Commit and Persist: Develop the courage and drive to pursue your vision through long periods of difficulty and discouragement.
The payoff: The reader becomes a leader who shapes their field, creating work that is remembered and built upon by future generations. · They enjoy a deeply fulfilling career, secure in the knowledge that they have used their one life to its fullest potential. · They remain intellectually agile and relevant, capable of navigating technological change and contributing for their entire career.

See our guide

Related profiles we’ve built

Additional reading

Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock Potential in Yourself and Your Organization · Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey
This is the authors' previous book, which provides a deep dive into the ITC framework that is presented as a key tool in Chapter 6 and used by the fledgling DDOs in Chapter 7.
In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life · Robert Kegan
This book lays out the foundational theory of adult development and mental complexity that underpins the entire DDO concept, explaining the 'adaptive gap' that DDOs are designed to address.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success · Carol Dweck
The book explicitly references Dweck's work, contrasting the 'fixed mindset' (prevalent in ordinary organizations) with the 'growth mindset' that is fundamental to a DDO's culture.
Organizational Culture and Leadership · Edgar H. Schein
Mentioned in the book, Schein's work provides a foundational understanding of organizational culture, which is the primary medium through which DDOs operate.
The Functions of the Executive · Chester Barnard (1938)
Chapter 10 identifies this book as providing the seminal concept of 'willingness to contribute to the cooperative system,' which forms the theoretical foundation for the modern construct of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB).
The Psychology of Careers · Donald E. Super (1957)
Chapter 3 cites this as a foundational work that established the concept of career stages, a model that has profoundly influenced career development theory and research for decades.
Decision-making in the employment interview · E. C. Webster (1964)
Chapter 6 highlights this as the key report from the influential McGill University studies, which revealed the cognitive biases inherent in unstructured interviews and shifted the focus of research toward understanding the interviewer's decision process.
Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures · Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP)
Multiple chapters (e.g., 13, 15) refer to this document and the related AERA/APA/NCME 'Standards' as the authoritative professional guidelines that define best practices and core concepts, like the modern unitarian view of validity, for the entire field of personnel selection.
Managing Human Assets · Beer, M. et al. (1984)
This is a seminal book that introduced the 'Harvard framework' of HRM, emphasizing a multi-stakeholder approach that considers the interests of employees, not just shareholders. It provides a foundational 'soft' HRM perspective.
Strategic Human Resource Management · Fombrun, C. J., Tichy, N. M. and Devanna, M. A. (1984)
This book introduced the 'Michigan framework,' which advocated for a 'hard' HRM approach focused on tightly matching HR strategy to the business strategy (vertical fit). It is a foundational text for the strategic alignment concept.