Work Hard vs Work Smart: Why One is Not Enough

Published: 2021-07-07
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Harvey Mudd College
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Argumentative essay
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What do you think is the best? Working smart or working hard? These are phrases that have been used by many people in workplaces and institutions. What do working smart mean? Does it mean working less and not working hard to become smart? Does working hard have nothing to do with working smart? Do smart people work less? Or do hard working people not work smartly? The two phrases are confusing, and many people have been thinking that working smart is not working hard. However, there is the need for people to understand the where the confusion is and be informed on why one of them in not enough.

Hard work dates back to centuries when people used to do hard work to be successful. In the past, our cultures considered working hard as a cornerstone for achievement. For example, traditionally, people used to burn the midnight oil, sweat a lot and run everyone else around to attain the goal (Moroney 1). The common phrases that have been installed into peoples minds; if you want to succeed, work hard. You have to burn midnight oil is hard to forget and they believe in it (Lee 168). However, as technology advanced and the world became industrious, the idea of working hard was considered a relic of the analog period and the digital era was embraced. The digital revolution introduced the concept of working smarter instead of working hard.

Working smart entails making smart choices and right decisions. According to Lee (2017), people who work smartly climb the ladder very fast (168). They are the people who are successful in everything they do. However, it should be noted that the individuals who work smart also work hard. Nobody can achieve by just making the smart choices and right decisions without putting effort on their work for success (Moroney 1). Nobody has ever woken up and decided that they will start working smart and stopped working hard. Working smart alone not enough. But working smart and hard at the same time is required for the success of whatever is being done. However, people often frame the choices of working hard or working smart as separate. They choose one only; hard or intelligent. They never think of it as one.

Successful people, for example, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft Corporation, became successful not just by working smart but by working hard as well. The success of his company involved making smart choices, making the right decisions, having sleepless nights, and toiling hard to achieve the organization's goals (Moroney 2). If you are working smart, you should always know that there is someone somewhere who is smarter than you, and one is a hard worker, he/she should also know that there is someone who works harder than you. Hence the need for combining both; working smart and hard to achieve the best (Lee 168).

If you want success, do not be content to simply working smarter or harder. The most successful people work smart, but they also work exceptionally hard. They never fail to maintain their persistence and energy while picking up ways of doing things efficiently. Working hard or working smart stick together, separating them from each other is difficult. Even when working hard you have to make smart choices. Hence, one is not enough.

Works Cited

Lee, Icy. "WORKING HARD OR WORKING SMART." Teaching Writing for Academic Purposes to Multilingual Students: Instructional Approaches (2017): 168.

Moroney, Michael. "The Myth Of Working Hard Vs. Working Smart". Entrepreneur 2013: 1-2. Web. 16 June 2017.

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