Working smart

Dear Lloyd,

I always get an “award” from my boss. Every day seems to be a bad day for him because almost daily, I fail to match his expectations. I work very hard though, leaving the office late at night and come to the office early in the morning. I’m afraid that sooner or later I’ll be out in the company. Please help.

Thanks

Janice Ann Beltranos
Mandaluyong City

Dear Janice,

The thing that you are doing is, in itself, a problem. Working hard is a problem. So, the first thing you should do is to stop working hard. Yes, you’ll ask why.

Majority of career-oriented people I meet and I personally exchange some ideas with is doing the same “”I work hard but why isn’t seem to do any good.” Still, what they get in the end is a failing grade from their superior. What’s wrong with working hard, or even harder?

Working hard wastes your time and energy. It is not result oriented. It is process-oriented. When we are working hard, we give more attention, time and force working on the process. But we must not dwell on the process much. We must deal with the result. And so we must see it the other way.

The process or the system must be the one working for us. That’s the main reason why they are created in the first place. It should help us save our time and energy. And it should give us added confidence and support mechanism to get our desired result.

I’m not so sure if this story were true. But let me demonstrate my point through this one. Way back in the late 70’s, American and Russian astronauts were in very tight competition. They wanted to prove that one is better than the other. Of course, both sides have their own style and tactics so that the world would agree that the other one is no match with the other.

When the space craft was launched and landed on the moon, both found hard time writing data. Because of gravity up-there, their pens hardly write. So, both teams get back to earth and solve the problem. Years after, it’s show time.

Americans has spent million of dollars for research and development of a pen capable of writing despite gravitation problem. And so when they got there, they have proven themselves the best in research. The Russian team however did a very smart move. When they got to the moon, they brought a pencil. It was able to write.

Both teams got their desired result. But the difference is measured by how much time and effort (and money) they have used in order to get it. It’s really a matter of how intelligent people are that determines the fastest way to his goal.

Start working smart. That’s the point. A lot of people work so hard that they still fail to achieve what they wanted. The reason is that they are too distracted by the process. Instead of the process working for them, they work within the limitation of the process.

Stay away from this kind of people. It won’t do you any good. Working smart is something better than working hard.

One of my favorite executives (and inspiration) Butch Jimenez, the senior vice president of PLDT, has given me this kind of insight. And so I wish I have shared with you the lesson on why not people should stop working hard. Again, it’s still ok to work hard. But working smart would mean a better and a greater chance for you to match the expectations of your superiors.


Buddy to the top,

LLOYD A. LUNA