What is right? Working hard or Working smart?

In any team, some people might find it easier to deliver results than others. I often wondered why there exists a variance in performance amongst the members of a team.

Are there reasons other than skills and commitment levels? How much role does the culture have in helping the team members deliver a uniform top-notch performance?

One of the realisations I've had on this question is based on lens of how different a workplace is compared to a college or any educational institution. Unlike college life which comes with several rules, regulations, and grading systems, workplaces are not clear about many things.

The moment you complete your education, the established rules start to fade off. When you take up a job, the competition intensifies and it becomes evident that you need to find your own rhythm on how should you work. The paradox at the same time is that you are expected to be a full-time team player unlike as a student where you do team work in projects but it is just one aspect of the overall curriculum.

Yes, some companies make it explicit at the organisational level but it is not very uniform and the degree of variance in the cultural norms about ways of working within each company is a lot to digest, especially for newcomers.

Take Amazon as an example here.

Jeff Bezos is famous for many things including his well-written letters to shareholders. In one such letter, he writes how they built the working culture at Amazon clarifying the organization's stand on the ways of working.

It’s not easy to work here (when I interview people I tell them, “You can work long, hard, or smart, but at Amazon.com you can’t choose two out of three”), but we are working to build something important, something that matters to our customers, something that we can all tell our grandchildren about. Such things aren’t meant to be easy. We are incredibly fortunate to have this group of dedicated employees whose sacrifices and passion build Amazon.com.

When you've a system that clarifies the expectation to such a minute level, it leaves a lot less for assumptions and confusions. When our assumptions are acknowledged and confusions are clarfied, our readiness to deliver improves drastically and the ease to adjust increases exponentially.

I don't know how many organizations clarify their ways of working with their employees but if I've to go back the question - "what is right? working hard or working smart?" I think there is no right answer for everyone. Whatever is the collective agreement within the team or an organization, it has to be clearly articulated and well understood.

In Amazon's case, as per Bezos it is "work hard, long and smart".

What about you? Are you well aware of your workplace's ways of working?

Some of the most interesting resources I came across on the internet recently:

• The KL Rahul Debate by Nitin Sundar
• Managers vs. Owners
• Ajay Banga on inclusive leadership

Here are a few posts I wrote on LinkedIn in the last few days:

• On how India must work to seize opportunities
• Who is responsible for your mental health?
• Don't fall trap to MUST dos
• Can layoffs be a strategy?
• On being a mentor

Check out all the previous editions of this newsletter here.