12-11-2017, Entrepreneur.com -- From a young age, we're raised to believe that we can accomplish pretty much anything so long as we work hard enough to achieve it. And, for the most part, that makes sense, at least intuitively. If you study for three hours while your roommate studies for one, you'll probably do better on the test. If you spend 50 hours at work every week while your peer spends 30, you'll stand a better chance of getting a raise or a promotion.

This idea follows us at every stage of our lives, and it echoes a cornerstone belief of Western culture: As long as you work hard, you're going to be successful. But there's a problem with this philosophy: Hard work isn't always enough.

The Netflix approach

This idea is hard to accept at first, if you're a hard worker who invests major time and effort to get what you want in life. Perhaps then, it's best to introduce the alternative notion, using a corporate example.

Netflix (yes, the company responsible for those late-night television binges) has found success in part because it abolished the idea of hard work being the sole determining factor in an employee's progression within the company.

Netflix formally introduced this idea in a 2009 slide deck explaining the company's culture, but the idea dates back to 2001. Since her departure from Netflix, the company's former chief talent officer, Patty McCord, has been on podcasts and spoken in interviews about the rather different work ethic Neflix evolved.

After experiencing financial trouble in 2001, the company made a bold move to lay off a third of its employees -- not based on how long they'd worked there or how hard they'd worked, but solely on what they contribute, and how they impact the company's bottom line. This infuriated some long-time, hard-working employees, but those who remained ended up getting more done because they didn't have to correct others' mistakes, or work around unnecessary teammates.

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