This discussion is there since the beginning of social life of mankind.
We all have different perceptions and different views on this topic and I am trying to put my view point as well.
In my opinion, Smart Work is a by-product of hard work and not an alternative.
Only after spending considerable amount of time, working very hard; we know the tricks to do the same job in less time and in more efficient manner. If smart work is our first option, we would only learn in patches. Only learn the requested problem part and do the job, as that smart work requires – providing quick solutions with measured effort.
We will lose the intelligence and judgement that comes with having overall knowledge – ability to provide complete and far-sighted solutions.
Let’s take the option of Hard Work:
First thing, it does is – Prepares you mentally for upcoming challenges.
Every time a problem arrives, you are willing to put an extra effort to look for more complete solution.
Now, take the option of Smart work. If we start with Smart Work, we would like to provide quick-fix solutions.
That may work for the time being but it will always have risk of not able to provide solution that would help the bigger goal (whole application). We would always be catching up, learning only the parts that come in our way.
I will end with an example that comes from my personal experience:
I am joining a new project and team that uses new technology which I have never worked upon.
My team has people who already know the technology and they are able to do their job between normal office hours. What are the options in front of me?
1. I follow the normal route, take it easy and keep learning the technology slowly. But I then never will be able to catch up.
I will never be go-to man because everyone knows more than me and they can fix things quicker
2. I do my work and vigorously try to understand the concepts and advance concepts that might not yet be available in the existing team.
I need to able to do the job with the same or better quality in a shorter amount of time.
I chose the second path, dig down every piece of code, worked hard to learn the concepts and hard concepts.
Now I am able to do my things quickly and can provide inputs that can lead to more complete solutions.
I believe, that my inclination towards HARD WORK, has helped be with succeeding in the task that seems very challenging in the start.
I would still leave you with your opinion and judgment.
