From Fast Company authored by Leila Hock:
“What do you really need to get ahead at work?
I get asked this all the time. The answer varies depending on the person, their goals, and my mood, but there’s one answer I’ll never give: “Work hard.” That’s not an oversight or a misstep. It’s very intentional.
Whenever I hear some public speaker or Silicon Valley personality talk about how it just takes hard work to really succeed, I can’t help but roll my eyes a little. I’m sick of hearing people talk about working hard, keeping busy, putting their head down, etc. We’ve become too preoccupied with “the grind,” and it’s actually bringing us down.
THE HARD WORK BIAS
We have a bias toward hard work in our society, and it’s causing a lot of damage, not the least of which is its negative effect on productivity. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, our productivity rate is increasing at the slowest rate ever, and yet, I’m sure you’d agree, people are working more than ever.
Generally, when people say they’re “working hard,” they mean they’re putting a lot of time in. What they (generally) don’t mean is that they’ve put a lot of thought into that work, or that they know what they’re working on is contributing to something important.”
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Loved your article! Much needed and good advice. BTW – I was that attorney my first year that did well on paper, but wasn’t really contributing much. But the reason was that I didn’t have enough work from the male partners, so I went to the female paralegals and took what I could get. I did learn from that experience to appreciate the real work that I was given and tried to do the best job possible.