Conscious vs. Subconscious Processing
Hammock Driven Development recognizes two distinct modes of thinking that neuroscience has validated. The first is our focused mode, which involves direct, conscious attention where we actively wrestle with problems. The second is our diffuse mode, representing background, subconscious processing that happens when we’re not directly focused on the challenge at hand. The subconscious mind operates as a powerful background processor, working on problems even when we’re consciously occupied with other activities. This system continues its work while you’re not actively thinking about the problem, eventually leading to those crucial moments of insight. As Hickey describes the experience: “The experience of a solution is that it’s correct and it’s complete.”
The Process
The Hammock Driven Development process unfolds in three interconnected phases, each serving a specific purpose in the journey from confusion to clarity.
Problem Understanding
Before any solution work begins, you must achieve complete problem comprehension. As Hickey puts it: “The understanding is the critical part.” This phase requires patience and intellectual honesty because, as he notes, “The problem is not the problem. The problem is your understanding of the problem.” This phase involves more than just reading requirements or listening to stakeholders. It means deconstructing the challenge into its fundamental components, identifying what you truly understand versus what you merely think you understand, and being comfortable with saying “I don’t know” when gaps in your comprehension become apparent. Writing down the problem statement often reveals assumptions and ambiguities that seemed clear when the problem lived only in your mind.
The Hammock (Incubation)
The heart of the methodology lies in what Hickey calls the hammock phase. When he says, “When you get an idea, when you’re in the hammock, do not get up and run to the keyboard,” he’s describing something that goes against every instinct we’ve developed in our productivity-obsessed culture. The “hammock” represents any low-focus activity that allows your subconscious to work. This might mean taking long walks without podcasts or music, engaging in simple physical tasks that don’t require mental effort, practicing meditation, or simply allowing your mind to wander. Sleep becomes particularly important here, as Hickey observes: “Sleeping is a great way to solve problems.” During this phase, your background processor synthesizes all the information you’ve gathered during the understanding phase, making connections and exploring possibilities that your focused mind might never consider. This isn’t laziness or procrastination—it’s giving your most powerful problem-solving system the space and time it needs to work.
Solution Emergence
The final phase requires perhaps the most difficult skill of all: patience. Solutions arrive through patience, not force, and as Hickey notes: “The best and most elegant solutions often emerge when you stop actively trying to force them.” When a solution emerges from this process, it typically feels different from solutions we force through conscious effort. It feels complete, elegant, and often obviously correct. The confidence that comes with such solutions stems not from having worked through a checklist or compared pros and cons, but from genuine understanding of both the problem and its resolution.
Supporting Infrastructure
Implementing Hammock Driven Development successfully requires more than just understanding the process—it demands that we build supporting systems and habits that enable deep thinking.
Feed Your Brain
Your background processor can only work with the materials you provide it. “You have to have the raw materials. You can’t make connections between things that are not there.” Continuous learning is essential, but not just any learning. “You need to read. You need to read, and you need to read outside your field.” Reading widely outside your domain provides your mind with diverse concepts, patterns, and approaches that it can later combine in novel ways. The architect who reads poetry, the programmer who studies biology, the designer who learns about music theory—these cross-pollinations create the rich soil from which creative solutions grow.
Build Mental Libraries
Rich, interconnected knowledge enables creative problem-solving in ways that isolated facts cannot. “Creativity arises from connecting disparate ideas, which requires a mind well-stocked with diverse, rich knowledge.” Think of this as building an extensive library in your mind, where each new book (concept, experience, or insight) creates potential connections with everything else on the shelves. This mental library develops over time through deliberate exposure to ideas, experiences, and ways of thinking that extend beyond your immediate professional needs. The investment pays dividends when your background processor can draw upon this rich collection to find unexpected solutions.
Protect Thinking Time
“The number one enemy of what I’m talking about is being busy,” Hickey warns. Constant busyness prevents the deep work necessary for insight. This means actively defending periods of uninterrupted time, recognizing that some of your most productive moments might look like doing nothing, and understanding that the pressure to always appear busy actively undermines your ability to solve complex problems effectively.
Common Anti-Patterns
Hero Programming
The temptation to tackle problems we don’t fully understand, often driven by time pressure or ego, leads to poor solutions and accumulated technical debt. Hero programming creates the illusion of progress while actually making problems more complex and solutions more fragile.
Flow State Confusion
While flow state receives much attention in productivity discussions, it’s important to understand its proper application. Flow state optimizes us for execution of known solutions, not for creative problem-solving. When we need to discover what to build or how to approach a novel challenge, the diffuse mode of thinking serves us better than the focused intensity of flow.