"There is no substitute for Hard Work" - Edison

This was quoted by Stephen Elop at Nokia 2011 Q2 results.

That's a very strong statement, and Edison is an all time inspiration for me. But, for the sake of argument lets see if we have another quality, which can be substituted for Hard Work.

Start afresh, for a beginner in any field the desirable qualities (apart from hard working) are

1 Creativity
2 Being Innovative
3 Intelligence
4 Passion
5 Determination
6 Eagerness to learn

So, how far you can go with each ?

1. Creativity, means to create something novel which has a value, simple statement, but to create something which has a value, there are lot of constraints

1. Understanding the problem space
2. Creating a prototype
3. Getting feedback
4. Feasibility study for mass production
5. Developing for Production quality
6. Being on time for market to be ahead of competition

With the time factor in, that's a lot of work and actually hard work if you have to really create something novel with value.

2. Innovation, is to change an existing solution, to create a better experience, something which saves time. I think Innovation is about solving problems in a better way, a newer way. If we are doing same things again and again it’s no more an innovation but if we do things in a way which solve problems easier and takes less time, which may reuse existing features, using standard design guidelines and standard practices. Doing new things is an innovation if it really solves some existing problems or add substantial value.

So Innovation again means

1. Knowing the context
2. Researching existing solutions, problems with them
3. Proposing your Innovative Idea
4. Comparing your work and
5. Doing it

So lot of work again to be really successful with innovation.

3. Intelligence, how far your intelligence can take you ? Lets make it more objective, Intelligence as being able to reason, solve problems, mathematical intelligence, emotional intelligence and being analytical.

If you are intelligent you can process large amount of information fast, that give you a very good idea of the problem space, help you to get to solution fast, Emotional intelligence allow you to know what to do when at emotional crisis. But all of these can let you do things in a better way, faster, but to be successful this is not enough you still need to do the work, you still have to process all the information to get to a solution, you still have to be get the result. Intelligence can get you faster, but the hard work still stays.

4. Passion & Enthusiasm are great qualities which can get you started on a long journey , the journey can be of learning, career, project etc. It give you a great start, it gives you the energy to work hard but Passion without Hard work is all talk and no walk. you will still need to walk to complete the journey.

5. Determination, means setting your goal, if you are determined to do something, you will be able to do it (or that's what they say). Your goal is clear but it's not close. Determination makes you ready for the hard work, the more determined you are the more disciplined you are towards your goal and more ready to do the hard work. I think if there are ever two thing needed to succeed, then it will be determination and hard work, if you have these two things on your side, you will succeed no matter what IMO.

6. Eagerness to learn is another great quality. A typical conversation goes like this.

"What do you like to do ?"
"I like learning new things !"
"Great, what have you learned new in last 6 months ?"
"...silence"

Learning new things has become a Status Quo. You don't get any reply to the second question, because learning new things, no matter how exciting it sounds, needs a lot of hard work, discipline and sticking to schedule. In our busy social life, time is precious and learning new thing, very few people can actually do. It need a lot of motivation. So if you really have eagerness to learn that means you are ready to sacrifice your luxuries to learn things, ready to do the hard work.

QED.