“I couldn’t help it, Miss Taggart,” Ben Nealy had said, offended. “You know how fast drill heads wear out. I had them on order, but Incorporated Tool ran into a little trouble, they couldn’t help it either, Associated Steel was delayed in delivering the steel to them, so there’s nothing we can do but wait. It’s no use getting upset, Miss Taggart. I’m doing my best.” “I’ve hired you to do a job, not to do your best—whatever that is.” – Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged)
The real world doesn’t care about how hard you try, how much time you put in, or how much suffering something caused. The real world cares about results.
Growing up and going to school we are taught that effort trumps results. That working hard is good and cutting corners is bad. But to do well in your career, you need to learn that effort is irrelevant and outcome is everything.
It can be stressful and scary to recognize this reality, but if you don’t you will never reach your potential. You will continually let yourself off the hook. You will rationalize your poor performance. You will avoid responsibility for your work and never learn how to do your job well.
To become truly good at what you do, you have to realize that at work, you are judged on the results you create, not the work you put in.
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