Topic

Research and Engineering Strategy

Latest viewpoints

Broad exposure helps researchers connect previously separate ideas

Dean advises researchers to sample many papers and abstracts so they develop a broad map of emerging possibilities that can help them connect ideas not previously combined.

Jeff Dean Research and Engineering Strategy Source at 22:04

Ambitious research should combine tractability with unresolved challenges

Dean says good long-term research problems contain many components that appear increasingly solvable alongside a smaller number of genuinely hard unknowns, avoiding both impossible projects and merely incremental engineering.

Jeff Dean Research and Engineering Strategy Source at 22:42

First-principles estimates are a valuable engineering skill

Dean emphasizes back-of-the-envelope calculations for evaluating whether proposed technical approaches are feasible and for comparing their likely performance before implementation.

Jeff Dean Research and Engineering Strategy Source at 24:22

Trying uncertain ideas is part of successful research

Dean says his successes coexist with projects that failed and recommends attempting many ideas that might not work because some eventually will.

Jeff Dean Research and Engineering Strategy Source at 25:29

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