4 ms·

These kinds of unplanned impacts are one reason why I think most jobs need to have a certain amount of "slack" built in so that the workers aren't only spending

These kinds of unplanned impacts are one reason why I think most jobs need to have a certain amount of "slack" built in so that the workers aren't only spending all their time working, but can spend some time pondering ways that they could be doing it better or even just relaxing and reading a book etc. You can't predict what avenues of investigation are going to bear fruit, so a good strategy it to encourage people to investigate things that interest them. Most of the time it won't lead anywhere, but once in a while someone will stumble upon penicillin or a microwave oven.

sitkack 2y ago
When you look at scientific discovery, random happenstance has an outsized influence. So much so, that one could make a compelling argument of how we could increase the rate of scientific discovery.
- ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
  When you see some science students mucking around with dangerous chemicals etc. then retreat to a safe distance and see what happens. If you see a physicist mucking around with a screwdriver and some beryllium, retreat much further away and preferably with several walls between you and them.
  - sitkack 2y ago
    If we have to couch everything we say online to account for arm chair illogical extremes, then nothing of substance would ever be said.
    - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
      Sorry, I wasn't really intending my comment to be any kind of criticism of your comment, but more of a kind of humourous (to me anyway) addition.
      - sitkack 2y ago
        No worries, I understand.
  - VulgarExigency 2y ago
    let he who has never acted blasé towards safety protocols cast the first plutonium sphere
mindcrime 2y ago
These kinds of unplanned impacts are one reason why I think most jobs need to have a certain amount of "slack" built in so that the workers aren't only spending all their time working... Indeed. And this is a well understood concept. To the point that Tom DeMarco wrote an entire book about the importance of "slack" - over 20 years ago.[1] From the description: <DeMarco> reveals a counterintuitive principle that explains why efficiency efforts can slow a company down. That principle is the value of slack, the degree of freedom in a company that allows it to change. Implementing slack could be as simple as adding an assistant to a department and letting high-priced talent spend less time at the photocopier and more time making key decisions, or it could mean designing workloads that allow people room to think, innovate, and reinvent themselves. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Slack-Getting-Burnout-Busywork-Efficiency/dp/0767907698 https://www.amazon.com/Slack-Getting-Burnout-Busywork-Effici...
- Etheryte 2y ago
  I don't recall what specific keyword they use, but this idea has been thoroughly explored in manufacturing businesses, probably for close to a century now. Having slack in the system allows you to adapt to unforeseen circumstances quickly and over longer periods of time, gives better results than trying to run everything at maximum output. If memory serves well, Andrew Grove dissects this idea and how it carries over to managing people in his book High Output Management from 1983.
  - Handprint4469 2y ago
    Yup, see Theory of Constraints[1] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints
    - gobengo 2y ago
      This book is a good riff on "The Goal" but for software manufacturers https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/ https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/
  - deleted 2y ago
malux85 2y ago
Explore exploit dilemma, it seems 20/80 is about the right ratio in many fields
andai 2y ago
This is interesting. Are those examples of inventions/discoveries that probably don't exist in other timelines?
- pdm55 2y ago
  The development of the lithium-ion battery is an example of how scientific discovery does not have a straight-line trajectory. How We Got the Lithium-ion Battery "One notable thing about the evolution of the lithium-ion battery is how hard it is to predict the trajectory of research, and how important it is to allow researchers the flexibility to pursue what they feel is promising. Whittingham stumbled across an intercalation-based battery when researching fast-ion transport through a solid electrolyte, an entirely different phenomenon. And his invention of the first lithium-ion battery cathodes was the result of a serendipitous discovery during work on superconductors. Thackeray discovered the manganese oxide cathode at Oxford ... for a year’s sabbatical so he could pursue the battery ideas he found promising. Early research on a graphite-based anode, performed by Rachid Yazami, was originally aimed at discovering a graphite-based cathode, not an anode, and Akira Yoshino’s battery efforts at Asahi Chemical were pursued in spite of the fact that company thought very little of the battery market, and only bore fruit because the company didn’t actively try and stop him. Likewise, the discovery of ethylene carbonate as an electrolyte that would allow graphite to be used as an anode was an accidental discovery by Moli Energy. This sort of trajectory, of course, makes it hard to capture the value of research, or to have anything like a reliable, predictable path by which scientific research gets turned into marketable products. Exxon’s efforts to develop a practical rechargeable battery ultimately failed, though its research would spawn a successful battery in the fullness of time." Source: https://www.construction-physics.com/p/how-we-got-the-lithium-ion-battery https://www.construction-physics.com/p/how-we-got-the-lithiu...
- ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
  I can highly recommend the old James Burke's Connections TV series where he traces ideas/inventions through history, highlighting the random meetings and developments that led to modern technology.
vishnugupta 2y ago
It is also more resilient to have system wide slacks. This is what I wrote in an earlier HN thread I feel that a 100% efficient system is not resilient. Even minor disruptions in subsystems lead to major breakdowns. There’s no room to absorb shocks. We saw a drastic version of this during COVID-19 induced supply chain collapse. Car manufacturers had built near 100% just in time manufacturing that they couldn’t absorb chip shortages and it took them years to get back up. It also leaves no room for experimentation. Whatever experiment can only happen outside a system not from within it.

These kinds of unplanned impacts are one reason why I think most jobs need to have a certain amount of "slack" built in so that the workers aren't only spending all their time working, but can spend some time pondering ways that they could be doing it better or even just relaxing and reading a book etc. You can't predict what avenues of investigation are going to bear fruit, so a good strategy it to encourage people to investigate things that interest them. Most of the time it won't lead anywhere, but once in a while someone will stumble upon penicillin or a microwave oven.

sitkack 2y ago

When you look at scientific discovery, random happenstance has an outsized influence. So much so, that one could make a compelling argument of how we could increase the rate of scientific discovery.

ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
When you see some science students mucking around with dangerous chemicals etc. then retreat to a safe distance and see what happens. If you see a physicist mucking around with a screwdriver and some beryllium, retreat much further away and preferably with several walls between you and them.
- sitkack 2y ago
  If we have to couch everything we say online to account for arm chair illogical extremes, then nothing of substance would ever be said.
  - ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
    Sorry, I wasn't really intending my comment to be any kind of criticism of your comment, but more of a kind of humourous (to me anyway) addition.
    - sitkack 2y ago
      No worries, I understand.
- VulgarExigency 2y ago
  let he who has never acted blasé towards safety protocols cast the first plutonium sphere

mindcrime 2y ago

These kinds of unplanned impacts are one reason why I think most jobs need to have a certain amount of "slack" built in so that the workers aren't only spending all their time working... Indeed. And this is a well understood concept. To the point that Tom DeMarco wrote an entire book about the importance of "slack" - over 20 years ago.[1] From the description: <DeMarco> reveals a counterintuitive principle that explains why efficiency efforts can slow a company down. That principle is the value of slack, the degree of freedom in a company that allows it to change. Implementing slack could be as simple as adding an assistant to a department and letting high-priced talent spend less time at the photocopier and more time making key decisions, or it could mean designing workloads that allow people room to think, innovate, and reinvent themselves. [1]: https://www.amazon.com/Slack-Getting-Burnout-Busywork-Efficiency/dp/0767907698 https://www.amazon.com/Slack-Getting-Burnout-Busywork-Effici...

Etheryte 2y ago
I don't recall what specific keyword they use, but this idea has been thoroughly explored in manufacturing businesses, probably for close to a century now. Having slack in the system allows you to adapt to unforeseen circumstances quickly and over longer periods of time, gives better results than trying to run everything at maximum output. If memory serves well, Andrew Grove dissects this idea and how it carries over to managing people in his book High Output Management from 1983.
- Handprint4469 2y ago
  Yup, see Theory of Constraints[1] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_constraints
  - gobengo 2y ago
    This book is a good riff on "The Goal" but for software manufacturers https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/ https://itrevolution.com/product/the-phoenix-project/
- deleted 2y ago

malux85 2y ago

Explore exploit dilemma, it seems 20/80 is about the right ratio in many fields

andai 2y ago

This is interesting. Are those examples of inventions/discoveries that probably don't exist in other timelines?

pdm55 2y ago
The development of the lithium-ion battery is an example of how scientific discovery does not have a straight-line trajectory. How We Got the Lithium-ion Battery "One notable thing about the evolution of the lithium-ion battery is how hard it is to predict the trajectory of research, and how important it is to allow researchers the flexibility to pursue what they feel is promising. Whittingham stumbled across an intercalation-based battery when researching fast-ion transport through a solid electrolyte, an entirely different phenomenon. And his invention of the first lithium-ion battery cathodes was the result of a serendipitous discovery during work on superconductors. Thackeray discovered the manganese oxide cathode at Oxford ... for a year’s sabbatical so he could pursue the battery ideas he found promising. Early research on a graphite-based anode, performed by Rachid Yazami, was originally aimed at discovering a graphite-based cathode, not an anode, and Akira Yoshino’s battery efforts at Asahi Chemical were pursued in spite of the fact that company thought very little of the battery market, and only bore fruit because the company didn’t actively try and stop him. Likewise, the discovery of ethylene carbonate as an electrolyte that would allow graphite to be used as an anode was an accidental discovery by Moli Energy. This sort of trajectory, of course, makes it hard to capture the value of research, or to have anything like a reliable, predictable path by which scientific research gets turned into marketable products. Exxon’s efforts to develop a practical rechargeable battery ultimately failed, though its research would spawn a successful battery in the fullness of time." Source: https://www.construction-physics.com/p/how-we-got-the-lithium-ion-battery https://www.construction-physics.com/p/how-we-got-the-lithiu...
ndsipa_pomu 2y ago
I can highly recommend the old James Burke's Connections TV series where he traces ideas/inventions through history, highlighting the random meetings and developments that led to modern technology.

vishnugupta 2y ago

It is also more resilient to have system wide slacks. This is what I wrote in an earlier HN thread I feel that a 100% efficient system is not resilient. Even minor disruptions in subsystems lead to major breakdowns. There’s no room to absorb shocks. We saw a drastic version of this during COVID-19 induced supply chain collapse. Car manufacturers had built near 100% just in time manufacturing that they couldn’t absorb chip shortages and it took them years to get back up. It also leaves no room for experimentation. Whatever experiment can only happen outside a system not from within it.