Which is more important, working Hard or Smart?

Have you ever seen someone with a skilled trade make his or her job look easy, almost effortless? My dad was a brick layer and could spread mortar on bricks like most people spread butter on toast. In two very smooth motions, he had the perfect amount of mortar on two sides of the brick before he placing it on the wall perfectly square. 

As his young helper, my job was limited to fetching water and mixing mortar, neither of which I did with any grace. On a few rare occasions, my dad would hand me the trowel to try my own hand at laying bricks. I never came close to mastering getting the mortar on the brick or squarely laying the brick on the wall. No matter how hard I tried, no amount of youthful hard work or effort could come close to my dad's years of experience and dedication to his trade. 

In my early years of working I always prided myself in my ability to overcome most situations with hard work. Almost like a young athlete who uses their strength to overcome their inexperience. If you ever have played a sport stacking the young guys against the old guys it usually plays out the same. 

I play hockey and us old guys move much slower than the younger guys, but we keep our heads up and are always thinking about our next pass. The younger guys end up chasing the puck and often look as if they're playing with one less player than the older guys. This same story often plays itself out in the workplace as well. The young, enthusiastic employee will often work harder and longer hours struggling to keep up with his older counterpart. 

Youth and experience both have their advantages. With youth comes energy, enthusiasm, vigor and sometimes a real determination to prove one’s self. With age and experience comes hard-earned knowledge, a thoughtful approach to one’s work that is born out of learning from one’s mistakes. Experience teaches us to ‘measure twice and cut once’ and to map out an approach before diving right in.

So which one is better? Most organizations benefit from a mix of both. Young employees can bring innovation to an organization while seasoned employees have a better sense of the obstacles and how to overcome them. Diversity in many forms gives us the best ingredients to bring together the most dynamic organization.