[TUHS] 20% time -- did it originate at the Labs?

[Marc Rochkind via TUHS]

I was never in research, but even in my development organizations I was
free to choose what to work on, sometimes with gentle negotiation with
others (e.g., I'll do the front end, you do the database). Once committed
to a relatively big project, however, I did feel obligated to work on that
until it was finished, with only occasional side trips, such as to write a
UNIX command. That's the way I worked anyway, even if not obligated.

Certainly I never heard of a 20% rule at Bell Labs. This would have implied
that the other 80% was controlled by somebody else! ;-)

Marc Rochkind

On Wed, Nov 19, 2025 at 3:17 PM Rob Pike via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org> wrote:

> At least in Research, Bell Labs was pretty light on guidance. If they
> trusted you to work there, they trusted you to find interesting things to
> work on. There were subtle pressures, sure, but the problems swirling
> around were so fascinating that there was no shortage of volunteers for the
> juicy ones. As long as you delivered, the freedom remained.
>
> The main reason I left the Labs was a change in management resulted in
> insistence that I work on things of no interest to me, things that didn't
> even align with my skills, and deliver that message to the people reporting
> to me. A complete failure to understand what had made the place so
> successful.
>
> -rob
>
>
> On Thu, Nov 20, 2025 at 6:39 AM Marc Donner via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org>
> wrote:
>
> > A small data point.  In 1976 HP made 20% time a prominent feature of
> their
> > recruiting pitch for recent grads.
> > =====
> > mindthegapdialogs.com <https://www.mindthegapdialogs.com>
> > north-fork.info <https://www.north-fork.info>
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Nov 19, 2025 at 12:05 PM Clem Cole via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org>
> wrote:
> >
> > > I have always been associated with "1 day a week to work on a project
> of
> > > your choice" with HP and Tektronix.  It was encouraged that what you
> > worked
> > > on during that time might have future benefits (that's how the Magnolia
> > > Workstation — later commercialized as the 4404 — was started).  But a
> key
> > > point to remember was that, in both cases, management tended to
> disregard
> > > it in the project schedule — *i.e.*, things were staffed assuming 100%
> > > output (sometimes more).  FWIW: I don't think I have ever associated
> with
> > > BL. @Ron: Where have you seen references to that?
> > >
> > > BTW: Besides the "1 day a week" idea, something else I always think of
> > that
> > > I greatly miss in every company I've worked at after my Tektronix
> > > experience as a young engineer is the idea of an "open stock room."
> I'm
> > > not sure of HP policies at the time, but it was Tek's.  The idea was if
> > you
> > > were working a private project (called a G-job) on your own time, you
> > could
> > > make anything you wanted at your desk or bench, as long as you paid for
> > the
> > > parts (credit was given as needed), you just took what you needed and
> > > signed the sheets of what you grabbed so the stock room folks would
> know
> > > when to reorder.  The other was that as long as your manager knew, you
> > > could bring any lab instrument home to use there.
> > >
> > > On Wed, Nov 19, 2025 at 11:00 AM ron minnich via TUHS <tuhs at tuhs.org>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > I read an article recently that claimed HP invented 20% time 8
> decades
> > > ago.
> > > >
> > > > I had always associated 20% time with Bell Labs. Can someone clear me
> > up?
> > > > Thanks.
> > > >
> > >
> >
>