Hard Work
We often hear about the importance of hard work or of developing a strong work ethic. You know, head down and nose to the grindstone. In my work with business owners and coaching clients, we do talk about “working smarter, not harder.” The counterintuitive approach? If you want a different and quicker approach, give it to someone who is lazy. The theory being that a lazy person will figure out a path to the goal with the least amount of effort.
That may resonate with you, and I fundamentally believe that hard work is required and that “time on task” builds knowledge and expertise. Once that base has been built, we can then think about the lazy approach. I get a regular newsletter from Farnum Street. It always delivers some bit of wisdom that challenges my thinking. Recently, they presented 5 different types of hard work:
Outthinking – this is the work to develop a better strategy or a shortcut. This begins to address the concept of hiring a lazy person or being able to see things differently. As much as we like to applaud the innovators, in organizations, they can be a challenge.
Pure Effort – this feels familiar for those of us who were raised with the idea of plowing forward, working longer, displaying the intensity or stamina to get to the finish line. This is often paired with the attitude that putting in the time leads to recognition and reward. Were that really the case there would be a lot more satisfied people.
Opportunistic – this favors those who recognize change is coming and position themselves to take advantage when it happens. For me, this seems very prospective and hopeful though the change we expect is not always the change we get.
Consistency – Scott Galloway, in his new book The Algebra of Wealth, advocates doing the boring things regularly as a path to success. Doing average things for longer periods can be a hallmark of success. When others get tired and bored, the consistent folks continue to get the job done. Like the old Timex commercial – it takes a licking but keeps on ticking.
Focus – there is a skill in remaining focused and on-task. Even harder, saying no to distractions without insulting or offending. As someone who has ADHD, I find myself at opposite ends of this dynamic. Sometimes highly distracted and other times hyper-focused. In either case, I need to be mindful and do the hard work of avoiding the extremes.
As I evaluate myself on how I display each type of hard work, I am good at the pure effort and consistency elements. I have always been able to recognize change though not in an opportunistic way. My focus is a challenge to manage – sometimes, and I wish I were more adept at the hard work of outthinking.
How do you rank each category for you? Food for thought and a ripe topic of discussion at your next team meeting.
Michael Riegel
MRiegel@AECBusinessStrategies.com https://michaelriegel.substack.com/
516-238-0859