Richard Hamming was a mathematician and computer scientist best known for his work at Bell Labs and his unique views on learning and thinking.
In 1986, he gave a seminal lecture – “You and Your Research” – providing insights on the components of meaningful research and scientific career success.
You and your research could easily be: you and your career, you and your athletic goals. The lecture most resonated with me through a coaching lens; following much of what I’ve learned about success in business ownership and developing athletes.
If you’re looking for a formula on how to win or succeed in any area, enjoy.
- Regularly ask: what are important problems in my field?
- Identify and work on immediate, medium-range, long-term problems.
- Dedicate one afternoon, “Great Thoughts Time”, weekly to think about fundamental questions.
- Keep a notebook with interesting ideas and problems.
- Have courage to tackle challenging problems.
- Build relationships with the best in the field
- Be professional
- Share ideas, learn, and collaborate
- Be willing to change
- Focus on important work during your most productive hours
- Drop less important things for more important
- Knowledge leads to productivity, doing more leads to knowing more
- Learn to overcome fear of failure and a need for recognition
- Say no to activities that do not contribute to main goals
- Stay current, always be learning
- Learn from others’ successes and failures
- Develop broad knowledge across multiple fields
- Challenge conventional wisdom where appropriate
- Commit to excellence vs good enough.
- Excellence comes from consistent, deliberate effort
- Great work requires great sacrifice
- Value is in the struggle more than it is in the result
- Never get too comfortable with your current success
- Develop emotional resilience to persist in the face of setbacks.
- Balance self-confidence with self-honesty.
- Develop inner drive to do significant things.
- Just doing hard work is not enough, it must be applied sensibly
- Great scientists tolerate ambiguity really well; if you believe too much, you never notice the flaws, if you doubt too much, you’ll never get started.
- Luck favors the prepared mind, be ready for opportunities
- Doing significant work requires conscious choice and sustained effort
What strikes me as the most important ingredients to success? Commitment to excellence, patience, engagement, curiosity, flexibility, humility, discomfort, focus, and excellence.
Ready to commit to you and your goals? Connect with us, we’re ready!
(photo: Multisport Mastery athlete Chris Pritchett, a great example of many of Hamming’s points.
Keep Reading
- Beyond Performance: What 20 Years of Endurance Coaching Has Taught Me About Goals, Identity, and Possibility
- It’s In Us: Why We Explore
About the Author
Elizabeth Waterstraat | Founder and Head Coach, Multisport Mastery
Elizabeth Waterstraat is the founder and head coach of Multisport Mastery, with 20 years of coaching experience and 26 years as an endurance athlete. A USA Triathlon Level III Coach, she is a five-time Kona qualifier, five-time Ironman World Championship finisher and 12-time National Champion. She has coached athletes from beginners to professionals and from first-time finishers to world champions, helping them develop the fitness, skills, and confidence to pursue ambitious goals through consistent, purposeful training.
Her coaching philosophy is built on communication, education, and partnership, with an athlete-driven approach that emphasizes the process as much as the outcome. She believes effective coaching requires understanding the individual, maintaining focus on meaningful goals, and finding balance between athletic ambition and the demands of everyday life. Through her coaching and writing, Elizabeth encourages athletes to take ownership of their development, build confidence through knowledge, and create a positive, sustainable relationship with sport.
Read more about Elizabeth, or book a fit call to talk about your goals.
