[danbruc]

Hard work is not important, good results are. That's a very different thing.

[tsenkov]

Winning the lottery is a "good result", without a hard work.

Moving a pile of dirt from one place to another, every day, is hard work without a purpose.

Working hard (and smart) on problems you are passionate about gives you the best chance at succeeding.

And about impressing someone with your work, I have a rule - impress yourself. :)

[jes]

I think hard work is a necessary precursor to good results. Although, that hard work may not be of the kind most people associate with office work of the past.

[danbruc]

Fair point, hard work is not well-defined. I interpreted and meant it in the sense of throwing a lot of working hours at the problem. And I think this is not necessary for good results and may actually be counterproductive in some cases.

[wrongc0ntinent]

For my part, I think so is boredom.

[judk]

That's non-responsive. We know what the deaired outputs are. The question is what are the necessary inputs.

[pekk]

In that case, "more and more hours" is often not a necessary input