The Risk of Working Hard

#1

Post by robg » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 2:52 PM UTC

The Risk of Working Hard
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Re: The Risk of Working Hard

#2

Post by ChrisLTD » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 4:03 PM UTC

I think it's true that a lot of people sabotage themselves this way. A more productive defense mechanism would be to tell yourself you could always have tried harder when you fail, even if that's not necessarily true.

On a related note, some folks think this is why LeBron James played terribly in the 4th quarters of the Finals games vs. the Mavs.

Re: The Risk of Working Hard

#3

Post by billybob » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 4:17 PM UTC

"In other words, if you work hard and fail, there's the presumption that you're innately not very talented. If you don't work hard and fail, you can credibly preserve the belief or illusion that had you only put forth 100% effort, it would have worked out."

This may be a common viewpoint, but it's unhealthy. Why lie to yourself? If you work hard and fail, maybe you're untalented, but it's good to know that and change directions. Or maybe you picked a bad goal and should pick a new one.

On the other hand, if you don't work hard and you fail, you haven't learned anything.

Also, "fail" is too broad. Maybe you worked hard, taught yourself to code, and built a website that got no business. OK, so your business failed, but in the process, because you worked hard, you learned how to code. Hooray!

Re: The Risk of Working Hard

#4

Post by dkarl » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 5:02 PM UTC

Another risk of working hard is that it requires tunnel vision. Narrowing your perspective makes you vulnerable and requires faith that it will pay off and you won't get burned by something that happens while you have your head down. I guess this doesn't apply to people who work with their heads up, but it certainly applies to a lot of technical folks.

Re: The Risk of Working Hard

#5

Post by aklein » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 5:05 PM UTC

And, you can work at 100% and have it not work out for external reasons which have nothing to do with you.

Re: The Risk of Working Hard

#6

Post by thetrumanshow » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 5:09 PM UTC

dkarl wrote: post #4

Another risk of working hard is that it requires tunnel vision. Narrowing your perspective makes you vulnerable and requires faith that it will pay off and you won't get burned by something that happens while you have your head down. I guess this doesn't apply to people who work with their heads up, but it certainly applies to a lot of technical folks.

Agreed. Its definitely hard to convince yourself to go heads down and full steam ahead on a good bet, when there is a chance that there are better bets somewhere out there.

Re: The Risk of Working Hard

#7

Post by sgns » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 5:12 PM UTC

What gets me, everytime I procastrinate along lines similar to those described in the article, is that the implicit assumption is always then that you're not very talented.

You can develop your talent, or you can sit around and think you're stupid.

Talent IMO is an epistemological quagmire you'll never get out of any other way than by quitting on it. As a sociologist, I like to remind that it is a relational concept - it doesn't refer to a 'thing' but to a way of defining yourself in relation to something.

Re: The Risk of Working Hard

#8

Post by maheshs » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 5:54 PM UTC

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Re: The Risk of Working Hard

#9

Post by mthreat » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 5:54 PM UTC

When I've worked hard on a project that could fail, I've usually had the mindset, "if it fails, at least we'll know it wasn't because we didn't try".

Re: The Risk of Working Hard

#10

Post by spaghetti » Fri, Jun 17, 2011, 5:59 PM UTC

I'll put a positive spin on this: Replace "fail" with "not successful yet". Replace "not talented" with "not as skilled as I will eventually be". Now working hard uncovers weaknesses and things to improve.