Whatever happened to the mantra: Work Smarter, Not Harder?
Silicon Valley is flush with stories about tech companies adopting the 996 work schedule which refers to working 9am to 9pm, 6 days per week; a 72-hour work week. The 996 phenomenon originated in China a few years ago but has resulted in mass protests, with critics even blaming the schedule for worker deaths.
Except for the catchy name, I don’t think the 70+ hour work week is a new phenomenon. 30 years ago (!) at the start of my career, 6-day work weeks were common in technology startups. Before the days of food delivery and remote work, I remember us 20-somethings grabbing a quick dinner and then returning to the office for a few more hours of coding.
Despite the popularity of hustle culture, I’ve always worried it prioritizes activity over outcomes. As I once wrote, don’t confuse me with the size of irrigation pipes or types of fescue grass, I just want a yard that’s not embarassing. When I was young, the overarching advice was to work smarter, rather than harder.
Of course, the work smarter not harder phrase was used so often it turned into a popular meme.
Like many aphorisms, the problem is no one ever really explained how to work smarter. Enter the book “Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More.” Author Morten Hansen examined 200 academic papers, interviewed 120 experts, ran a pilot study on 300 subjects, and then built a framework which he tested on more than 5000 participants from various industries and backgrounds.
Hansen found seven “work smarter practices” which explained the majority of how people performed. Perhaps surprisingly, education, age, and hours worked were only responsible for 10% of the effect – combined!
The most important practice could be described as “Do Less, Then Obsess.” Top performers did a better job of prioritization and focused on fewer objectives but, just as importantly, they avoided distractions and intensely obsessed over them. In Hansen’s words,
Once they had focused on a few priorities, they obsessed over those tasks to produce quality work. That extreme dedication to their priorities created extraordinary results. Top performers did less and more: less volume of activities, more concentrated effort. […] Choice is only half of the equation— you also need to obsess.
Experiments found that using this practice by itself improved an average 50th percentile performer into a 75th percentile performer.
In these days of glorifying 996 work schedules, remember you really can work smarter.
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