This is one of the odder things I've read on the Internet... I think you're misunderstanding the nature of fundamental research.
Nobody knows in advance which ideas will be groundbreaking and what won't. Most people who have made big discoveries spend huge amounts of time on things that will go nowhere, or "toys". I'm pretty sure there's at least an entire chapter of one of Feynman's books devoted to this.
People who make big breakthroughs tend not to be the kind of people who are self-consciously trying to make big breakthroughs. They just do what they want, guided by their own curiosity.
The whole point of tenure is to insulate you from pressure on what to work on. Maybe some people at MIT were critical of Shannon; I have no idea.
But that's the nature of creativity. You can't manage it. If MIT wanted they could get rid of the tenure system, but that would be a horrible idea.
If he didn't want to work on things he was "supposed to", so be it. The entire theory of information wasn't something he was "supposed to" work on either.
Your idea of 'shipping' also seems to indicate a misunderstanding of the research process.
I understand fundamental research just fine. I suggest you reread my comments and perhaps also read the bio and earlier materials on Shannon like _Fortune's Formula_. Finishing papers does not blight precious snowflakes like Shannon, nor would it shatter his delicate psyche. Not finishing drafts of papers was not critical to his genius and creativity. Shannon is far from the first person to procrastinate and be passive-aggressive, and the remedies would have been the same for him as for anyone else if his environment had been less in awe of him and following Romantic ideas of geniuses like those you espouse where their sacred solitude cannot be disturbed.
> Your idea of 'shipping' also seems to indicate a misunderstanding of the research process.
Publishing is pretty darn critical to the research process...
Nobody knows in advance which ideas will be groundbreaking and what won't. Most people who have made big discoveries spend huge amounts of time on things that will go nowhere, or "toys". I'm pretty sure there's at least an entire chapter of one of Feynman's books devoted to this.
People who make big breakthroughs tend not to be the kind of people who are self-consciously trying to make big breakthroughs. They just do what they want, guided by their own curiosity.
The whole point of tenure is to insulate you from pressure on what to work on. Maybe some people at MIT were critical of Shannon; I have no idea.
But that's the nature of creativity. You can't manage it. If MIT wanted they could get rid of the tenure system, but that would be a horrible idea.
If he didn't want to work on things he was "supposed to", so be it. The entire theory of information wasn't something he was "supposed to" work on either.
Your idea of 'shipping' also seems to indicate a misunderstanding of the research process.