What I Got Wrong About "Hard Work" in My 20s - Daniel Lemire's blog

You assumed hard work meant a solid 35-hour week and showing up to the right meetings, but the real skill comes from wrestling with the tough problems that no one watches. The article pulls back the curtain on how most people become experts at avoiding actual work while still appearing productive.

People who focus on external visibility-attending meetings, being seen on video calls-can convince managers they are working hard. In reality they sidestep the gritty tasks that build deep expertise. This creates a false signal where meeting attendance is mistaken for competence.

The gap widens over decades. A professional who spends years solving hard problems accumulates knowledge that only other experts can see, while a peer who merely shows up to meetings stays at a superficial level. That competence gap shows up as stark differences between engineers in their 30s, 40s, and 50s.

Leaders need to recognize the illusion of visible busyness and reward genuine deep work. By shifting focus from meeting counts to the outcomes of hard problem solving, you close competency gaps, improve team performance, and reduce the burnout that comes from chasing the wrong metrics.