Brendan Kane explains why grinding harder can backfire. Peter Drucker said improving efficiency at the wrong tasks is the least productive thing you can do. Lincoln's ax-sharpening story shows the real work is invisible: understanding the problem before you solve it.
Here's how you know that you're working too hard. Sometimes your extra effort is the problem, not the solution. Peter Drucker said, nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all. And what he means is that we like to get really good at doing things that push us in the wrong direction. We like to get very efficient at self-sabotage through hard work and dedication. And the funny thing is that working hard is usually the easiest thing that you can do. And that's because it feels like it's the safest thing that you can do. So most people work their asses off for years, but they never ask if what they are doing today is worth doing tomorrow, next week, and next year. They do this for years and they never notice that they're not really getting anywhere despite their hard work, despite being really good at what they do. Abraham Lincoln has this great quote. He said, give me 6 hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first 4 sharpening the ax. And what he's trying to say is that the obvious answer is usually the wrong answer. The most important work you can do is usually invisible. Or in other words, if you're spending 18 hours a day on the solution, it's because you don't understand the problem.
