I keep hearing that one should supposedly work smart, and that hard working is no longer in fashion. Working smart has become the buzzword of the year and almost inevitably leaves one with a guilty conscience. I, for example, am used to working a lot—so “hard”, you could probably say. But what actually differentiates nowadays between the terms “a lot” and “hard”? Working hard implies, in a sense, increased effort and an opportunity cost requirement on the expenditure side of life. A status quo, where usually a lot of energy is expended and dissipated to achieve results that one is supposedly capable of achieving in the same amount of time, or even less.
The greatest achievements in human history were achieved, or in the truest sense of the word, “built”, through the combined power of knowledge and human resources, concentrated muscle-strength combined with synaptic plasticity, so to speak.
Let’s take the ancient Inca culture in Peru as an example. How was it possible for the Incas to build cities like Machu Picchu, with relatively modest resources, thus completely foregoing “smart working”? This essentially concerns the humanistic-existential question of whether “smart working” is primarily technology-driven or rather describes a fundamental attitude, a state of mind, so to say.
So, when it comes to the use of the latest technologies, the Incas, were certainly not particularly “smart,” since today’s smart technology didn’t exist. However, if the word “smart” describes more a state of mind, they were certainly one of the most highly developed cultures of their time. Incidentally, from their perspective at the time, they were already technologically far superior to the other cultural movements.
Smart worlds and smart environments have, so to speak, always existed. Buzzwords like “talent” or “efficiency” weren’t necessarely invented by the current Generation Alpha.
What exactly does smart mean then in this context? If “smart” means, viewed from the perspective of increased efficiency and process excellence, then cultures like the Incas were already extremely efficient and smart. On the other hand, not everything that is achieved with the help of “overtime” should necessarily to be understood as “hard work” either.
Persistence plays a particularly important role here. Success that is repeatedly attempted to be achieved, also produces lasting effects in most cases. Ongoing, constantly optimizing customer relationship management and the sustainable development of value-creating relationships is, from the perspective of persistence, certainly a key to success in the long term.
Although AI supports and saves time, the overall effort is also crucial; the total moving mass, so to speak: what good are smart tools alone, if the can’t guarantee a long-term energy boost?
Our conclusion: “Smart” may seem modern, but persistence pays off just as much.
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