Work hard or work smart?

[nonrate]

I see a pattern here. I have been hearing a lot about "hard work" here on YE, almost with an innate sense of pride attached to it. Hard work. Well, I ask all of you, is "hard work" really such a great strategy? Does it make you feel good to receive poor to no results but be satisfied that by golly, you worked hard at it?

Hard work is not an element to being successful. So sorry, I disagree. I see no logic working on things that are hard if there is an easier way to produce the same or better results. I do not strive day to day to find harder ways to work.

I would consider working smart as a replacement for working hard. The term working hard has been so impressed upon us as a valuable element of success, we have lost the true meaning of the word. Hard work is not a good idea!

It was hard work to build automobiles having one person build a car at a time. That's why Henry Ford invented the assembly line.

It was hard work to pick seeds out of cotton one at a time. That's why Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.

It was hard work to move earth by shovel and man power alone. That's why William Otis invented the steam shovel.

So, I ask.. no I challenge all entrepreneurs here, young and old, is hard work really a good asset to have in your utility belt to success? Or is smart work better? Please, I'd like to hear your comments on this as I am baffled that so many here are promoting hard work.

Working hard on a smart idea, that's a different story.

[bananaman]

Nice post.

Hard work, where it counts, is good.

Hard work, where it doesn't count, is bad. In this situation, doing something else is a better proposition.

[ilead]

I agree. If you use up all of your energy working hard on something, your progress ends up being slow and arduous, you feel drained and tired at the end of the day and you begin to dread having to work on the same project the next day. The failure process begins.

Smart work on the other hand often produces results that seem simple and easy. You have more energy after completing the same amount of work which you can then use to accomplish more smart work. As a result, your progress is often quick and smooth, almost effortless even.

However, sometimes hard work can't be avoided. It's not very smart to try to avoid hard work to the point of cutting corners, that usually leads to more unnecessary work. It's a good idea to strike a balance between the willingness and commitment to work hard to achieve your goals and always being on the lookout for better and more efficient ways to get the work done.

[armenh]

I see a pattern here. I have been hearing a lot about "hard work" here on YE, almost with an innate sense of pride attached to it. Hard work. Well, I ask all of you, is "hard work" really such a great strategy? Does it make you feel good to receive poor to no results but be satisfied that by golly, you worked hard at it?

Hard work is not an element to being successful. So sorry, I disagree. I see no logic working on things that are hard if there is an easier way to produce the same or better results. I do not strive day to day to find harder ways to work.

I would consider working smart as a replacement for working hard. The term working hard has been so impressed upon us as a valuable element of success, we have lost the true meaning of the word. Hard work is not a good idea!

It was hard work to build automobiles having one person build a car at a time. That's why Henry Ford invented the assembly line.

It was hard work to pick seeds out of cotton one at a time. That's why Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.

It was hard work to move earth by shovel and man power alone. That's why William Otis invented the steam shovel.

So, I ask.. no I challenge all entrepreneurs here, young and old, is hard work really a good asset to have in your utility belt to success? Or is smart work better? Please, I'd like to hear your comments on this as I am baffled that so many here are promoting hard work.

Working hard on a smart idea, that's a different story.

I would have to disagree with the examples you gave to back your point up. First off, Eli Whitney and Henry Ford spent years developing their products. This required hard work and persistence. Eli Whitney had to write the blueprint to his cotton gin and do tests in order to get his cotton gin approved for production. The same had to be done by Henry Ford with the creation of his assembly line and eventually the Model T. I think you are mistaking innovation and hard work. Innovation does not mean that the developer didn't put in much work into development. I agree with you that hard work is overemphasized on this forum and that if you are determined to do something it comes from within and hard work is just "extra talk".

[nonrate]

I would have to disagree with the examples you gave to back your point up. First off, Eli Whitney and Henry Ford spent years developing their products. This required hard work and persistence. Eli Whitney had to write the blueprint to his cotton gin and do tests in order to get his cotton gin approved for production. The same had to be done by Henry Ford with the creation of his assembly line and eventually the Model T. I think you are mistaking innovation and hard work. Innovation does not mean that the developer didn't put in much work into development. I agree with you that hard work is overemphasized on this forum and that if you are determined to do something it comes from within and hard work is just "extra talk".

Well, it's a good perspective you bring up. Working hard in most cases means providing great effort in the task at hand. What I believe you did not mention was the hard work they were applying was towards a smart solution. And, I believe it may have been the point overlooked in my post. Your point is very valid, they did work hard, they did provide great effort, at achieving their tasks. And that task was to provide a result that was more efficient than the previous solution to the same problem. Working hard at at a smart idea.

So, In my post above, I left off with working hard on a smart idea is a different story. I see your post as relating to this. Very good observation though.

[armenh]

Well, it's a good perspective you bring up. Working hard in most cases means providing great effort in the task at hand. What I believe you did not mention was the hard work they were applying was towards a smart solution. And, I believe it may have been the point overlooked in my post. Your point is very valid, they did work hard, they did provide great effort, at achieving their tasks. And that task was to provide a result that was more efficient than the previous solution to the same problem. Working hard at at a smart idea.

So, In my post above, I left off with working hard on a smart idea is a different story. I see your post as relating to this. Very good observation though.

Nevertheless, I understand your point and can greatly relate to it. Many entrepreneurs on the forum also tend to spend their times focusing on things not relating to their business which also wastes time. They spend hours researching about LLC's, writing OVERLY complicated business plans, and figuring out legal matters that their start-up becomes stagnant. The other day we had a guest speaker at our club and he clearly stated spending time on figuring out all these things and writing extra fancy business plans is not time spent wisely. All the time you spend doing that could just as well be placed on the growth and expansion of the company. All the legal details, tax and research will eventually fall into place as your company grows and things come into place...

[Gene]

Nice point. Don't confuse activity with accomplishment.

I see a pattern here. I have been hearing a lot about "hard work" here on YE, almost with an innate sense of pride attached to it. Hard work. Well, I ask all of you, is "hard work" really such a great strategy? Does it make you feel good to receive poor to no results but be satisfied that by golly, you worked hard at it?

Hard work is not an element to being successful. So sorry, I disagree. I see no logic working on things that are hard if there is an easier way to produce the same or better results. I do not strive day to day to find harder ways to work.

I would consider working smart as a replacement for working hard. The term working hard has been so impressed upon us as a valuable element of success, we have lost the true meaning of the word. Hard work is not a good idea!

It was hard work to build automobiles having one person build a car at a time. That's why Henry Ford invented the assembly line.

It was hard work to pick seeds out of cotton one at a time. That's why Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin.

It was hard work to move earth by shovel and man power alone. That's why William Otis invented the steam shovel.

So, I ask.. no I challenge all entrepreneurs here, young and old, is hard work really a good asset to have in your utility belt to success? Or is smart work better? Please, I'd like to hear your comments on this as I am baffled that so many here are promoting hard work.

Working hard on a smart idea, that's a different story.

[EC44]

It's not or, it`s and - Work hard and work smart!

Really, it`s as simple as that - I just thought it went without saying, but then I suppose some people aren't that logical when it comes to doing things. The key is to have a plan, and use hard work to execute the plan. As for a plan, I am not talking a full fledged business plan (I am actually a proponent against a business plan in most cases), but an idea of what you want to accomplish and how to get there.

Even rednecks get it right - get 'er done!