Saturday, September 12, 2015

Working Hard and Working Smart Need to Go Hand-in-Hand

You must be clear about balancing the "Thinking & Doing" to improve quality, creativity, and productivity, etc.

Today’s business world is fast-paced and hyper-competitive, many business professionals keep their hands full all the times. Overall speaking, hard work is a good attitude, however, keeping “busyness” doesn’t mean one should just do what is being told without thinking; or take actions without a strategy. And to some extent, we do need to discover "who we are," too. The dreams you intend to realize, the mindset you are equipped with, and the attitude you need to achieve the goals. Or to put simply, working hard and working smart need to go hand-in-hand.


Work hard and work smarter need to go hand in hand: The key of hard work is to be sure you are working hard on those things that matter and not work hard on those things that don't - the key to hard work is setting the right priorities and expectations and sticking with that philosophy. Working Hard is really working smarter, with the right mindset and attitude! In today's workforce demographics (Boomer, Gen X, Y and Millennial's), you must be clear on balancing the "Thinking & Doing" to improve Quality, Creativity, and Productivity, etc., along with the "Work Experience" that your associates want to and expect to have as part of their experience in your organization. The latter can also be represented in the "learning moments" that they hope to glean as part of their experience in a company. Lastly, the effort or work professionalism are needed to be best awarded when there is a line of sight to shape a high-performing culture and achieve a particular business outcome.


Hard work is very important, but do not be a busy fool: There is a very clear difference. Having a strategy that is reviewed regularly is very important because it provides a clear direction. Hard work is relative, but what is important is to well manage the plan, effort, and time. With the right amount and type of effort applied strategically with good timing, you will dribble your way to achieving your ultimate goals. You need to keep your hands on the wheel, eyes opened, and ears to the ground. From a business perspective,  if your enterprise is not going the way it should be going, trying harder is not the solution. A lot of the time particularly in the early stages of a company's lifecycle, the customers will almost be the driving force. As you grow, it will be vital to obtain a good spread of clients and to also try to obtain a good balance between them driving you, and you providing a balanced but professional service. This will only occur when you have a good quantum of clients. Changing something is closer to the solution, if you know how to find what to change, you must work hard on those things that matter. You must define your vision, mission, and objectives in any business undertaking, and then pursue them vigorously with your strategies. You must break your mission into specific and concrete objectives. If you fail, try to fail forward and not lose hope. Let your failure be an experience that will give you a leap for success. Sometimes doing nothing can be much more productive than working hard towards an indeterminable goal. The hard work can bring success, but it will never be the only criteria for achieving success.


While hard work is one of the key ingredients in the recipe for success, it is not the guarantee in itself: There are other overriding criteria or twists that will decide the outcome. People like those who go the extra mile to solve the problems. most of us have periods of our day when we are passionate, highly motivated and eager to do something that does not require we work hard, be held accountable or set goals and schedule time to make sure it gets done. It is the magic that flows from our natural motivations. It is so natural we sometimes do not even realize that it is special. Let's take the time to discover when we are beginning to work hard what it is that is making it hard. Grinding through what is hard is most of the time not the best use of time, money and energy. Nevertheless, to achieve success both as an individual and an employee, it is important that you understand your work environment, understand what is required to be done, have the right resources; including the appropriate mindset, and channel your energy into what is expected of you. Hard work is required to eventually be successful.


Hard work is only one variable in the success equation, but it is one of the "controllable" variables. We are responsible for doing the best with what we have been given in life but, the BEST means a lot of things - the advanced mindset, the good strategy, the right attitude, and working hard & working smart need to go hand-in-hand in achieving the ultimate goals.


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