Here are two talks by very smart people, both academics, that have profound insight into the way people do their work. The focus is on doing scientific research, but much of what is said will apply to many fields in which people work with their brains.

The first paper is Richard Hamming's You and Your Research, a collection of tips on working productively and managing one's career. I read it about an year ago, I can't remember where I heard about it.

The second one is by Ivan Sutherland and it's called Technology and Courage. I found out about this second talk on James Gosling's blog. It's about finding the courage to do what you need to do. Ivan says, for instance, that procrastination is essentially a lack of courage; he makes a convincing argument. Here's a little gem from the text: