Oh, but you worked hard on it? I don’t care.
I feel like I’ve been misled over the past 8 years of formal education that I’ve been a part of. I don’t know if the education system or American culture is to blame, but there seems to be this permeating school of thought that may be a large contributor to the unemployment numbers we’re seeing today. And, incidentally, this was a revelation to me in that I finally nailed down why entrepreneurship is so hard. The answer, as usual, is pretty simple…
Society doesn’t care how hard you work. If you don’t produce anything of value that they’re willing to spend money on, it is your loss. The amount of invested time, money, blood, sweat, and tears only matter in your own eyes at the end of the day. Consumers reward the smartest workers, not the hardest workers; and if you think you can work at something for a little while just to sit back and take in the cash you’re sorely mistaken.
The grade school and corporation frame of mind tell us that if we try hard or if we do as our boss tells us enough to not get fired that we deserve that paycheck every Friday. Obviously, this is exactly the opposite of how people spend their money, and people with their own companies will tell you first hand that you ask yourself every day if what you’re making is going to provide enough value. Not only that, even those that have launched successful products still have to be on the leading edge to stay afloat. ”Trying” on my calculus homework didn’t get me nearer to coming up with revolutionary solar technology or cars that drive themselves, but my grade told me that it did. People take pride at staying late on a Friday to cap off that 60 hour week, as if their team got the benefit of having 1.5 employees for just 1 salary – highly misleading.
Try asking your boss if you can work on something that will provide more value to your customers. See what they say.