Intention + Effort
Heart working outperforms working hard.
”努力没有用， 用心才要紧。“- 曾仕强教授AI translation of Prof. Ceng's saying is, “It's useless to work hard; it's important to put your heart into it.” He meant that working hard is essential but limited to how hard work alone can be achieved. Besides individual competency and luck, putting our heart and soul into what we do makes a big difference.
Mr Kazuo Inamori relentlessly stressed the importance of being guided by our hearts. Whenever he was trapped in making a difficult decision, Inamori asked himself the famous question, “
"生而为人，何谓正确？" - 稻盛和夫
"As a human being, what is the right thing to do?" Kazuo InamoriWe can study some of the principles of Mr Kazuo’s philosophy from Kyocera’s publication: To lead an extraordinary life,
Elevate our minds by aligning our hearts in harmony with the will of the universe and choose a loving, sincere, and harmonious heart as our basis
The 12 management principle, principle #3: Keep a Passionate Desire in Your Heart
Reflections on life, live with a pure heart
[image credit: Bing Image Creator]
“用心 Using heart” in Chinese is easier to understand than in English. With the help of ChatGPT, I think the word “intention” works for the context of this article, “effort alone has limited impact. Effort with intention can make a dent in the universe”. Effort without intention can lead to wasted resources, while intention without effort remains theoretical.
Intention: intrinsic goal and objective. It sets the direction and is guided by values, forming the wisdom guardrail for decision-making. Intention goes beyond mere effort. It involves understanding the problem deeply, setting clear goals, and aligning efforts with those goals. Intention drives thoughtful decisions, ethical considerations, and long-term impact.
Effort: external observable activities, time, and energy consumed in the practice and works. Effort is essential to materialize the goal, but hard work alone is not a guarantee of achieving the goal.
Hard work and dedication go hand in hand. Effort is the foundation of action, while intention gives depth and meaning to action. We need to focus on both when pursuing our goals.
Balancing Effort and Intention:
Overemphasis on Effort: Without intention, effort can lead to inefficiencies or misguided actions.
Overemphasis on Intention: Intentions without sustained effort remain theoretical. Execution matters.
In summary, successful businesses combine focused effort with intentional decision-making. We need to be “heart working”, not merely working hard.