Working harder is an ideal that has to do with taking the current system and maximizing it. Like taking a car to its fastest speed. In general though, working harder isn't what gets a person ahead these days. A person can be a very hard worker and burn the candle at both ends, working long nights, and having early mornings, yet not get anywhere. Why? because many industries innovate and change to quickly to compensate for those changes by simply putting more fuel in the fire. One needs to change the way in which one works all together.
Routine use to make up a large part of employment. Systems organizations and franchise models had such in-depth and specific explanations as to job requirements that all a person ever had to do was follow rules. Those days are over. Anything that can be reduced down to mindless repetition can be programmed into a computer, or replicated by a machine. Which is why people who use to thrive in those settings are unemployed. This is why working harder won't get you where you need to be.
What is more, education out side of college and graduate school is a must. One has to learn what is going on in current industries in order to innovate. One must be able to constantly learn in order to constantly bring new things to the table. Industries change to quickly for a person to get away with being out dated. Again, you can't get away with just putting more fuel in the fire. People who once didn't lean beyond requirement will find themselves useless. They worked jobs functioning as a machine, and now they are being fully replaced by said machines. In order to work these days, one must be a human being. Creativity is the new dominant value, and is slowly evicting efficiency.
