Let me
ask you a question. What should we do? Should we work smart or should
we work hard? I think it's a legitimate question. This seems to be a
debate which started back in the 1970's.
In the
70's, like today, colleges were working hard to increase their
enrollment numbers. To that end, a campaign was created to preach the
message, “Work smart not hard.” As a matter of fact, below is a
poster which was produced during said advertising campaign.
As you
can clearly see, the poster suggests that going to college is the way
to work smart. And, working smart, according to these universities,
is preferable to working hard. Grease monkeys be damned.
It's
such compelling advice. It contains two elements that seem to have
made the advice irresistible. I mean, most people believe that
they're smart. Even more, people tend to take pride in their level
of intelligent. And, honestly, who wants to work hard if they can
help it? Smart, successful and lazy, how is that not a winning
combination in the world of advertising?
I think
people generally believe that smart work is what the upper-class
does. It's more refined and sophisticated. Hard work is for the
grunts. It conjures up images of sweat shops and even slavery. So, it
only stands to reason that people would want to be viewed as
sophisticated rather than as a slave. Thus, it isn't surprising that
this old bromide, “Work smart not hard,” has taken such a strong
hold.
The only
problem is that it's bunk advice. It plays to the wishful side of our
brains rather than the side of reason. To be blunt, I find it quite
fascinating how often people willingly suspend reason in preference
for fantasy. I reckon a guess that the person who proudly boasts, “I
work smart, not hard,” also has a copy of The Four-Hour Work
Week on his or her shelf. It's basically bull crap. I do
understand, once you're successful, you might be able to work only
four hours per week. But, to get to that level of success you're
going to have to work four hours per hour.
Don't
get me wrong, I'm down with fantasy. To dream, and escape, certainly
has its place. But remember, the whole point of the poster's message
has to do with the selection of a career. When it comes time to
select your work, I recommend putting fantasy on the shelf. Unless,
of course, you work for the Walt Disney company.
I
believe better advice is to work both smart and hard. It's all
about embracing the genius of and. Today we live in a knowledge
economy. The two main creators of value are productivity and
innovation. Both of which are applications of knowledge. So, for
sure, we need to work smart.
It goes
without saying that the organ of knowledge is the brain. If the brain is the main organ we use, I figure we should know how it works. For this
reason, in the modern age, I believe it's very wise to study subjects
like cognitive psychology. Which is exactly why I discuss emotions
and paradoxes. Both are central elements in the life of the mind.
At the
same time, life is largely built on competition. Especially in
capitalist economies such as those which exist in North America. And,
when competition reigns supreme, hard work is imperative. For
example, take Mark Cuban. Cuban is a very smart guy. I don't believe
it's possible to reach his level of success without being smart. Now,
I don't know if the following quote is legitimately from Cuban, but I
like the message nonetheless. Do you think Mark Cuban believes in
working hard?
