Work with your door open

“Work with your door open” is Richard Hamming’s principle, cited in How to Maximize Creativity: closed-door workers are more productive in the short run but lose sight of which problems matter, while open-door workers catch the clues that lead to important work.

Context: The idea comes from Richard Hamming’s talk and essay “You and Your Research,” where he observed that researchers who worked with their office doors open did more consequential work over a career, because openness to interruption kept them attuned to the important problems.

Where this appears

• How to Maximize Creativity — the Hamming lesson on staying open to clues that point toward important work.