How to Find the Great Problems

Barbara, you've been an incredible problem picker in figuring out where to point your career. So how do you do that? I have no idea. Look, I feel like I was lucky in a way, so I got into the field early. I mean, of course, at that time it was all very confusing because nobody knew how to do anything. But when I saw that program methodology problem, it was clear that was a hugely important problem. And to the, you know, when you can see a problem that's hugely important, that's a great thing to work on. I happened to be on a panel with some Nobel Prize winners a couple of years ago, and that question came up, how do you find problems to work on? And what they said is what you do. You pay a lot of attention to what's going on around you. And every time you read a paper or listen to a talk, you ask questions. So you say, what didn't they do? What's wrong? What could be better? And that way you find things somehow that helps you find things that are directions to go in. Actually, that doesn't match my story very well because, in fact, I saw Bob Kahn pose a problem. But still, that's another thing I do. I'm a very critical reader. And I also got very good at understanding what I didn't know, which is almost more important than knowing what you do know, because then you can see where the holes are in your reasoning. And when I read papers, I see the holes in their reasoning, and that often gives you an idea of which direction you should go in. But I don't know, you know, I can't really answer that question. I just, you know, look for good problems. Don't do incremental work, but look for things that look like they're going to be important. And then try to be honest in your research and really think deeply and figure out what you understand and what has yet to be worked.