Camshafts: What effect does increased lift have on performance?

It's cold out, so lets use a door letting in cold air for comparison.

• Lift - How far the door is opened. A door opened all the way quickly/shut quickly lets in a quick, cold blast.
• Duration - How long the door is opened. A door opened half of the way but held open for 30 seconds will drop the temp in the room even more having much more of an effect on dropping temps in the room.
• and Ahhhh... we keep leaving out what may be most important - the SIZE of the door !! If one is a pet door and one is a garage door, hmmmm...