What it really means to work smarter, not harder

One of the most common pieces of career advice is to "work hard."

This advice is common because it's sound: You rarely meet successful people who don't work hard — or, at least, have never worked hard.

But, unfortunately, working hard is not enough.

If you're trapped in a job in which hard work and long hours won't set you apart, or you aren't motivated by your work or career trajectory, or there's not much demand for what you do, or you have no goals or plan for where you are headed, then just working hard won't get you far.

So you have work smart in addition to hard.

Working "smart" means several things:

• Doing your current job intelligently — focusing on delivering what matters most to your boss and employer.

• Mapping out longer-term career goals and plans for your next step.

• Working your way into a job and career that motivate you and feature a lot of demand for services you like to provide. It is much easier to succeed when you are really motivated to do something, lots of people need it, and you like doing it.

In a future article, I'll talk more about how to "work smart" in your current job. Here, I'll focus on your longer-term career path.

(And, before I begin, I'll add that only you can define what "success" looks like for you. If you're happy in your current job, and you just want to keep doing it, then you're already successful. And the heck with what other people think "success" is.)
 

How to work smarter, not just harder

Let's say you think you want to have a career in the restaurant business and the only job you can get is "dishwasher."

Well, first, it's smart to take the dishwashing job and do it well. It's much easier to learn and build expertise and contacts from inside an industry than from the outside.

But you can work extraordinarily hard and long as a dishwasher and still not have a career you want. So, while you're being a great dishwasher, you should also be developing a plan for your next step.

That step might be another job in the same restaurant or a different one. Or culinary or hospitality school. Or, if you have decided that the restaurant industry isn't for you, it might be in another industry or profession.

Regardless, it's not smart to wait around and hope that the chef rewards your dishwashing excellence by making you, say, the junior pastry chef. The chef has more pressing concerns than your career.

Instead, the smart move is to do a great job as a dishwasher — thus earning the trust and gratefulness of your colleagues and providing real value to your team — and then, at an appropriate time and place, tell the chef your goal is to become a chef and that you would be grateful for any advice on how to take the next step toward that.

The chef's response will be telling.

If the chef says, "I've never given a dishwasher a cooking job, and I never will," the smart move will be to thank the chef for his candor, keep doing a great job as a dishwasher, and use your off hours to find another route to the next step in your career — perhaps a job at another restaurant with a more open-minded and flexible chef.

If, on the other hand, the chef's response is, "Moving from dishwashing to cooking is tough, and not many people can do it," the smart move may be to say that you are confident that you will be one of the people who can do it and ask the chef to please consider you when an opportunity opens up.

And then, when the opportunity does open up, it will be smart to remind the chef of your interests and goals and ask for the job. Hopefully, by then, because the chef has come to trust you and be grateful for your dedication and competence as a dishwasher, he or she will give it to you.

If so, take the job and become great at it — while also developing a plan to get the next job you want. If not, try to learn what the chef's objections are — why he/she won't give you the job —and think about how to address those concerns over time.
 

What to do if your idea of a dream job changes

Of course, after working as a dishwasher for a while, you may decide that restaurants are not the career for you, after all.

This could be for any number of reasons, including:

• You don't like the restaurant business

• You don't like doing — and/or are not particularly talented at or motivated by — any jobs in the restaurant business

• You don't like the hours in the restaurant business (for example, the need to work nights and weekends)

• You don't like your likely compensation and benefits trajectory in the restaurant business, OR

• You have learned about other industries or professions that you think you will like MORE than the restaurant business.

If you have decided you want to switch industries, "working smart" as a dishwasher will not mean developing a plan to get the next kitchen or restaurant job you want. It will mean figuring out a smart step toward what you do want.

Switching industries will likely be more difficult than getting the next job in the restaurant business, because you won't have the benefit of having colleagues who know you're dependable, competent, and a pleasure to work with. But, with practice, you'll learn how to present your experience and skills and yourself in a way that should help you make the transition.

The cost of switching industries or professions may also, of course, mean starting again at the bottom — the "dishwasher" equivalent in your new industry. But if the new industry is a better fit for you, then this may well be worth it. Toughing it out in a career you hate is not a formula for satisfaction or success.

So, that's one example of working "smart" in addition to "hard." It means not just doing a great job at the job you have but also always keeping your eye on — and developing and implementing a plan to get — the next job you want.

I'm writing a series about how to succeed in the world of work. It's especially for those who are early in their careers, but I hope it will help others, too. See an intro to the series and my background here.