WHY BELL LABS WORKED

Summary from the TLDR Web Dev newsletter

Bell Labs thrived due to a management style that prioritized radical freedom and autonomy for talented researchers, which let them pursue their interests without pressure for immediate results. Mervin Kelly, the lab's builder, focused on identifying individuals with innate drive and a thirst for knowledge, providing them with problems to solve and trusting their abilities. The lab's success was from a formula of finding great people, fostering collaboration, providing curated problems, and allowing years for exploration.