From Creep to Complete: How Radiohead Boosts Your Work Efficiency

This article expands on topics discussed in my new book, Grow Up Fast: Lessons from an AI Startup, live on Amazon, Apple Books, and Google Play Books today.

If I had to guess, probably 80% of the initial code I wrote for my company, Yembo, was created with Radiohead playing in the background.

You may be surprised. Why would someone do this?

Venturing out to a world of uncertainty, perhaps something more upbeat would make more sense. To me, Radiohead’s music is good for a lot of things. If you’re a fan of Radiohead, you know what I mean.

If you’re not, let me try and explain it to you.

The music of Radiohead doesn’t come right out and tell you what it is. You have to interpret it at almost a subliminal level. It makes your brain work. As successful as Justin Bieber is, no one ever accused his music of making your brain work. In fact, it may have the opposite effect.

I don’t know if Radiohead intended their music to be environmental or ambient (Treefingers, anyone?). But for me, it is. I listen to it, and I work better.

Radiohead lyrics are notoriously asymmetric — the generic 4/4-time signature is often eschewed. Radiohead music makes you ask questions and think, which you are always doing when you are getting a startup going.

• What could go wrong?

• What new features do we need?

• What backgrounds are missing in our team?

• What signs should we see three or four months down the road that things are working?

Hundreds and hundreds of questions.

And I found that Radiohead’s music helps me sort through those questions while I work.

Is it because much of the music of Radiohead is in the Dorian mode, which is, some say, a more reflective mode in music? Is it because much of the music of Radiohead seems unstructured, in irregular time signatures, and therefore doesn’t get in the way of your thinking? That’s beyond my pay grade.

What is within my pay grade is knowing when something makes me productive, when something helps me think better, and address problems more logically.

A big mug of black coffee does that. A speedy computer allows me to do that. Radiohead’s music does that.

Lyrically, a lot of the music of Radiohead is about problems. It’s not happy music. It’s music about things that can go wrong. You won’t hear it at a club, I suspect. But you will hear it at work every day in my office, and I suspect in the offices of hundreds of thousands of people.

Radiohead’s music has been a constant touchstone in my work and life. If you’ve never listened to their music, go to your favorite streaming service, pick a Radiohead playlist, turn the volume down low, and start doing some work. More likely than not, you’ll be a fan after two hours.

Even if not, you will have gotten a lot done.