from Church of the Customer Blog by Ben McConnell

Have an important problem to solve

from Church of the Customer Blog by Ben McConnell

In researching the science of how things replicate and spread, I've spent time time catching up with the work of Dr. James Watson who, with Francis Crick, discovered the structure of DNA in 1955, eventually earning the duo the Nobel Prize.

Dr. Watson could easily be a consultant about success. He gave a fascinating talk at Google last year and began with "a few reasons why we became famous."

In the interest of replication and spreading his knowledge, here's my summary of Dr. Watson's prescription for work:

1. Have an important problem to solve.
While in college, Watson saw an x-ray photograph of DNA. It captivated him. What was its physical structure? The two-dimensional structure of DNA had already been solved, but no one knew its three-dimensional structure "probably because it was too complicated." Except for Linus Pauling and "some people in London," no one else was working on the answer. That was the motivation Watson and Crick used. "We worked on something before it's time had come," Watson says.

2. Give yourself time, but cap it.
The choreographer Twyla Tharp says the paradox of creativity is that it's better when it's restricted. That squares with Watson's teaching, too. "You shouldn't work on a problem if you think it'll take you 10 years, particularly when you're young. You'll be out of a job." Watson recommends giving yourself three years to solve a big or important problem. "People will sort of of trust you and put up with you for three years," he says.

3. Talk to your competitors.
The x-ray of DNA that inspired Watson was taken by Rosalind Franklin. She was trying to figure out the 3-D structure of DNA, too, but she didn't want to work with Watson and Crick. "She didn't like Francis because he was loud." Plus, Franklin wanted to discover the structure herself. Watson and Crick reached out to their competitors; "you tell them what you think, and they'll tell you what they think and pretty soon, you can get very close to the answer."

4. Never be the brightest person in any room.
If you are, no one can help you. Neither Watson or Crick knew chemistry, even though it was at the heart of what they were trying to solve. Watson had copied diagrams out of a chemistry textbook, but the textbook was wrong. If he and Crick hadn't made friends with a quantum chemist who helped them with their chemistry equations, they never would have discovered the double helix, Watson says. The lesson is that "It was very useful for me to be brought up thinking I wasn't bright because it was very easy then to ask for help."

5. If you need help, ask for it quickly.
"Don't wait a week to ask for help!" Speed matters. After all, you only have three years.