Archive for May, 2015

When Smart is Not Hard Enough

May 20th, 2015

Today’s blog is dedicated to those of us who hang on to slogans. One in particular. That of working smart and not hard.

Smart not Harders, at least the category of those that fits the description in this blog, don’t just hang on to that slogan, they build their perspectives’ walls so high around it that they miss the sight of the real world behind those walls. Even worse, they forget what smart was for in the first place.

As obvious as it might sound, look or feel, North is where results are. That’s what it’s all about.

The Smart not Harders I am talking about delude themselves by creating a mirage of a North and naming it Smart. Their battle stops being about doing the work to get the sought results, and becomes about doing the work smartly. Period. They, of course, celebrate the coincidence of when smart gets them on target and find reasons for why it has not when it doesn’t. And there goes the hamster wheel race.

The way out?

A deep, real, authentic conversation about the situation with someone other than yourselves and whose aim in all that is not merely to please. Ask: am I reaching my results? Am I fulfilling my share in the results of my team and those of my organization? How can I change how smart I am working in order to reach my objectives, those of my team and those of my organization? How can change how hard I am working in order to reach my objectives, those of my team and those of my organization?

And remember, when smart is not hard enough, smart is not smart at all.


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