Hard Work

Hard work seems to have become a controversial topic. It took me years to learn the lesson about the importance of hard work, and just as I solidified that into a habit, it is now being villainised. I was recently gifted the book 'Lost in Work' by someone on my team. On the other hand, I had a meeting with an client at work where they shared how the things my team was helping to build were being deployed to save lives. Here is what I learned as I pondered over this topic in the past few weeks.

The Nuance: The controversy about hard work seems to arise primarily in the context of work. Everyone is fine working hard in their personal life, be it at the gym or learning to play an instrument. The conversation only seems to change when the context is switched to work that generates income. By the current definition, Messi or Ronaldo should not be playing football on the beach during their holidays, as that would be considered "lost in work."

Ownership: Ownership is perhaps the most critical factor influencing hard work. Two of my previous managers, Tenni and Josh, entrusted me with the ownership of Yahoo.com and supported it with their actions. In one instance, when we were about to launch a feature that performed exceptionally well in A/B tests and added millions to the bottom line, I was given the authority to exercise my role as the owner and veto it. As a 27-year-old idealist, I was allowed to override a director of product's experiment on Yahoo.com because, in my view, it exacerbated the issues related to echo chambers. This experience fostered a profound sense of ownership within me, fuelling my intrinsic motivation to push myself. I no longer felt like I was merely working for someone else; instead, I was building something that I would proudly share with the people in my life. Consequently, working 80-hour weeks posed no problem for me.

A lot of organizations use equity to instil a sense of ownership. However, unless you are one of the early employees with a double-digit percentage of the equity, you will likely not care enough. People will only put effort into things that they feel a sense of ownership for, even if they don't ultimately own it. Architects, for example, don't own the buildings they design, but they have a deep sense of ownership. The greatest leaders are able to create ownership and make it tangible through actions. A litmus test to determine if ownership has been built correctly is to measure whether people close to that person know what they work on and to what level of depth, as people tend to discuss things in detail that they truly care about.

Doing what matters: Initially, I was inclined to say "Do What Matters To You," but I realized that this perspective could be self-centered. There is something innate about the human condition: when we do good for others, it brings us happiness. While this can be seen as a selfish reason to do good, I consider it a byproduct rather than the primary goal. The willingness of first responders to put their lives on the line exemplifies the incredible intrinsic motivation that arises from doing what matters. It is no wonder that mission-driven companies, a prevalent trait at inception for most, and companies that manage to sustain their mission-driven culture, outperform.

Clear goals and progress: Working on anything, let alone working hard, becomes challenging when the goal and a way to track progress are unclear. People don't typically go to the gym just for the fun of it; there is always a goal, whether it's getting in shape or working toward a specific health milestone. However, people in general lack long-term goals, making it difficult to sustain long periods of hard work since they struggle to see how their effort compounds towards the bigger picture. A decade is a good time scale for plans given anything major will take a long time to achieve.

Happiness: Sustained happiness and a sense of satisfaction seem to come from working on hard problems, on audacious goals. However, we often mistake the quick, short burst of dopamine hits we get when we scroll social media or binge-watch shows for happiness. This behaviour is literally addictive because the same dose gives us less dopamine over time, requiring an increase in consumption. I highly recommend listening to this episode about Dopamine by Andrew Huberman.

In the pursuit of balance, we often create stress by trying to give equal priority to multiple things, which makes decision-making more challenging. Instead, being honest about our priorities can alleviate anxiety and yield better results. Whether you choose to work hard in your 20s and enjoy your 30s or vice versa, it is about defining the priorities. Regardless of how hard you work, you can still make time for socialising, traveling, and other activities. The key is to establish a clear priority and being able to articulate to yourself and others why.

Counter point: Working so hard that it impacts your health in the long term or drives people you care about away is kind of stupid. The way I see it, my hard work should contribute to improving the world for both myself and the people I care about. It should create a better world and allow me the opportunity to genuinely enjoy life with them in it.

Potential root of the problem: On one hand, society, largely influenced by social media, encourages us to find balance. On the other hand, it inundated us with desires and a craving for materialistic possessions. The concept of mimetic desire , as coined by the French philosopher René Girard highlights the struggle, it makes it even harder to discover the true source of personal happiness. Instead, we become consumed in the rat race and believe that we need what someone else has in order to be happy. Everyone's definition of success cannot be the same, but it often seems to be heading in that direction. The overwhelming number of "quick money" videos and posts circulating online is absurd (Even after considering the biases introduced by recommendation engines). Unfortunately, in today's world, mimetic desire is amplified by technology. Many people find themselves working for money to buy things they don't even truly desire, living according to someone else's definition of happiness. Naturally, this makes it challenging to sustain hard work or even do the bare minimum in some cases.

I rewrote this three times. It was hard work to talk about hard work :D