939. Why Aren't You Working on Your Most Important Problems?

No Days Off with Brian Gubernick · Nov 4, 2026 · 7m

At Bell Labs, mathematician Richard Hamming once sat down at the chemists' lunch table and asked a question so direct that he was never invited back. One of the people at that table took it seriously, and his career changed. Drawing on Shane Parrish's Farnam Street piece "How to Do Great Things," Brian unpacks Hamming's argument that great work isn't an accident of luck. It comes from choosing the right problems and being ready when an opening shows up. For entrepreneurs who end every year busy and exhausted but not much further ahead, this is a hard look at where the effort is actually…