This temporary abandonment is a common feature of many great creative acts. The monomaniacal pursuit often does not work; the temporary dropping of the idea sometimes seems to be essential to let the subconscious find a new approach.

At the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric, long, long ago, some psychologists were trying to improve productivity by various changes in the environment. ... Each change caused productivity to rise. One of the men got a bit suspicious and sneaked a change back to the original state and productivity rose!

While playing chess Shannon would often advance his queen boldly into the fray and say, "I ain't scaird of nothing". I learned to repeat it to myself when stuck, and at times it has enabled me to go on to a success. ... The courage to continue is essential since great research often has long periods with no success and many discouragements.