If you ask people how to become successful, the default answer is to “get better.” It certainly makes sense, but there’s another way:

Find weaker games.

In his paper, Alpha and the Paradox of Skill, Michael Mauboussin shares the experience of Jim Rutt, former CEO of Network Solutions and the Santa Fe Institute.

Mauboussin explains:

He [Jim Rutt] mentioned that he played a lot of poker when he was young, became pretty good at it, and made some money. Rutt assumed that the best way to ensure continued success was to improve his skill, so he worked diligently at honing his game by learning the probabilities of each hand and studying other players for clues about the strength of their positions. At that point, an uncle pulled him aside and doled out some advice. “Jim, I wouldn’t spend my time getting better,” he advised, “I’d spend my time finding weak games.”

Because hard work is idolized, we often overlook another approach. What if we applied our ability to an easier market or an easier opportunity? Hard work never fully ceases, but make sure we apply work to the right game. Working hard at the wrong thing isn’t success. It’s madness.

Many companies/investors play hard games because they’ve always done it that way. It’s their identity. In their mind, it’s foreign to step back and reconsider, are we applying our effort in the right spot? Is there an easier way to accomplish our goal? Why are we competing in markets where we hold no advantage?

What if the answer isn’t just to put more hours in and be more productive? How about finding an easier game?

Easy is a loaded word because many people connote easy with laziness and worthlessness. Have you ever heard a colleague say, “I’m working easy?” Of course not. It’s always working hard. Working hard can be meaningful or meaningless depending on the context.

Investors keep banging their head against the wall competing in the most efficient markets. Is that the best game you can be playing? You’re playing a hard game with lots of competitors. What’s your plan? Just outwork everyone else?

Instead, find an easier game. Find some corner of a market that’s overlooked or unpopular, but allows you to win.

Remember, the goal is success, not hard work. You get to choose the path.