There are many ways to do fine work. Many people have heard the well-known phrase ‘work smarter not harder’. The key is to translate this into action.
One approach is to get the right balance between smart work and sweat work. This can increase the chances of staying sane and also achieving success. Let’s explore these themes.
Smart Work
Great workers are not afraid of sweat. They aim to be strategic and smart, however, and channel their efforts in an effective way. Before doing a piece of work they often take following steps.
They clarify the specific outcomes to achieve and translate these into a clear picture of success;
They clarify the specific strategies to follow – to be smart – that will give them the greatest chance of achieving the picture of success;
They clarify how to translate these into a clear action plan and organise their time properly when working to achieve the picture of success.
Great workers often have a history of putting in the time required to become professional. They may then reach a point in their career where they become more strategic.
Such people then explore the following strategic questions before embarking on doing a piece of work. Good leaders also adapt these questions to focus on how their team can follow a similar approach.
Great workers follow their chosen strategies. They then aim to do smart and effective work by organising their time in blocks. This gives them the chance to do deep work rather than be distracted by other events.
Great teams take a similar approach. They build on their strengths and clarify: a) the specific outcomes to achieve; b) the strategies they can follow to increase the chances of achieving this picture of success.
They then coordinate their people’s strengths to achieve these aims. They put the right people in the right places. They then give them the support they need to do superb work and deliver the goods.
Imagine that a person is being smart and following the strategies most likely to achieve success. They then need to translate these into action and, when appropriate, focus on the next theme.
Sweat Work
Great workers enjoy putting in the effort to follow strategies that work. They may then aim to follow their chosen rhythm and organise their time in blocks. This gives them the chance to do deep work.
Such workers put in the equivalent of positive sweat because they can see the point of what they are doing. Sometimes this may be physical sweat. Other times it feels like there is a different kind of sweat. A person feels as if their whole being is involved in doing the piece of work.
A person may also stretch themselves when doing the activity. This can involve stretching in a creative, intellectual or psychological way. It may mean exploring other ways of doing things that lead to imaginative breakthroughs.
A person may have an inner compulsion to keep improving when doing the activity. Being deeply absorbed, they will keep going until they have satisfied both an inner and outer goal. Their gut feels that the work is finished and they feel satisfied with the final product.
Different people have different feelings after going through these steps. They may feel joy, exhilaration or the equivalent of positive sweat. This can lead to a sense of peace. Then, after a while, they set off on a new journey towards achieving their next goal.
Great workers follow smart strategies that provide the greatest chance of success. As mentioned earlier, they often aim to follow a certain rhythm and organise their time in blocks.
This gives them to chance: a) to prepare properly and rehearse what they are going to do; b) to perform deep work. They can then focus on continuous improvement and do their best to achieve the picture of success.
Great teams follow a similar process. They encourage people to follow the key strategies, organise their time in effective ways and do superb work on the way towards achieving the picture of success.
There are many ways to do fine work. One approach is to get the right balance between doing smart work and sweat work. Taking this approach can increase the chances of staying sane and also achieving success.
Let’s return to your own life and work. Can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of this approach? How can you do this in your own way?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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