While on vacation recently, I re-read Malcolm Gladwell’s best-selling book, Outliers, The Story of Success.  Gladwell uses exhaustive research to detail interesting stories and accounts to draw significant conclusions about why people are successful.  As he says, “I will argue that there is something profoundly wrong with the way we make sense of success.”  Later he says something equally interesting:

“Virtually every success story we’ve seen in this book so far involves someone or some group working harder than their peers.  Bill Gates was addicted to his computer as a child.  So was Bill Joy.  The Beatles put in thousands of hours of practice in Hamburg.  Joe Flom ground away for years, perfecting the art of takeovers, before he got his chance.  Working really hard is what successful people do….”

I consult and coach a lot of people in varying segments of the marketplace.  Most complain about how difficult it is to compete today.  After I agree with them, I ask, “But hasn’t it always been that way?”  Businesses have always needed to adapt, and although things move much quicker today than ever before, it simply requires all of us to adapt more quickly.

I also preach a lot about hard work and how it is a bell-weather to success.  While I would argue that hard work isn’t the only thing we have to do to be successful, like Gladwell says, there is hardly anyone or any group that has become highly successful without working really hard.  Smart work is also important, but it usually follows long hours of hard work.

So the next time you find yourself complaining about how things have changed and how hard it has become, think of the hard work that your successful competitors are putting in.  That may give you pause to re-think your own work ethic.

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