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Ask HN: How to find companies that value deep work?

10 points by arupy ↗ HN
I’ve found from past work that I was able to enjoy my work the most when I had lots of autonomy, few distractions, and a role with great creative freedom. I’m now looking for a new job, but I find that most of my desired companies have open-offices, meetings throughout the day, and low prioritization for ‘deep work’, leaving little room for big ideas and creativity to flourish.

How should I approach finding companies/roles that value this type of work? Would I be able to find this type of environment at a larger company?

3 comments

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edmundsauto
Are you better at filtering, or at seeking?

One route is to cast a wide net, with a very specific filter.

The other is to be very targeted in who you approach. Find likeminded people, which will require finding a lot of not-likeminded people.

The key to both is scale. The work is both in the skill (how good of a filter do you have? How good are you at really identifying people who value what you value?), but the real secret is volume. Persistence, scale, volume, and a way to improve your filters.

There are no shortcuts.

aristofun
Unless it’s some hi profile cutting edge RnD like ARPA or unique startup like google early days (when nobody was certain it was a unique startup) — there’s no point for someone to pay you a good money for full autonomy and creativity.

A business needs to survive and grow, for that it needs to execute in a scalable and controllable manner.

A business needs just hi quality cogs for their wheels.

So aim for that unique companies and good luck!

burntoutfire
It's called a hobby or (better yet) a retirement.