How to Find the Great Problems

Barbara Liskov, MIT CSAIL (Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab)
In conversation with: Ann Miura-Ko, Floodgate

How do you find the most interesting and important problems to work on? Part of it, says MIT Institute Professor Barbara Liskov, boils down to simple luck, and being in the right place at the right time. But beyond that, she advises, you have to pay attention to what’s going on around you, learn to read with a highly critical eye, recognize what you don’t know, and avoid incremental work.