It’s a question as old as “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”. Except unlike questions of agricultural early beginnings, the question I’m referring to will have a SIGNIFICANT impact on your success in work, and even life in general. “Should I work HARD or SMART?”

Habits genius James Clear once gave the most clear answer to this query by saying that you should first put your head down and work hard at something new, then step back and examine how to do it smarter, then shift back to working hard, then back to smart and so on and so forth. This model is concise and effective.

But another level to this idea exists in asking whether producing WORK or IDEAS will make you more valuable. If you’ve ever worked with someone who is FULL of ideas but not particularly good at executing the basic expectations of a role, that can be very frustrating. On the flip side there’s clearly value added by someone who is busting it everyday to produce work.

Which is more valuable?

About 10 years ago driving through downtown Atlanta I heard a leader who I cannot remember her name on a podcast that I cannot remember its name make a fantastic argument: Producing IDEAS is of way more value than just producing work! If you stop to think about it, it’s definitely true

For example, my best friend manages a business where they unload hundreds of 50 lb. cylinders off of a truck. Great to have hard workers on this task indeed. But imagine the person one day who comes up with an idea that cuts out all the manual labor and allows someone to unload these using technology or a machine. Not only does this effort unload one truckload, but EVERY truckload in the future while saving money and blood/sweat/tears. Idea > work.

Don’t forget that people will potentially ignore your great ideas if you have not garnered trust and shown yourself to care through your hard work. Your work ethic often gets you to the table where you can then present ideas that help everyone!

One tangible action:

Spend a few minutes each day thinking about ideas that could make things better in your job role and life. Even one small idea is of real value, and given time to think you will come up with many small, some medium, and likely a few big ideas!

Pro Tip:

When presenting an idea to others, pitch it as something to just try for a set period of time to see the results. A test drive is far less intimidating to people than buying the whole thing, and often this is a strategic way to make change happen without freaking everyone out due to significant changes!