I'm reminded of an episode of MASH where Burns tries to get Hawkeye in trouble. Hawkeye is playing cards. Burns feels he should be in surgery. But he is waiting for the patient to be stabilized. He had ordered the kid get IV fluids, whole blood, and antibiotics so he wouldn't die on the operating table. He is playing cards (without drinking, for a change) to keep himself up so he will be awake and alert when it is time to operate in the middle of the night.
There are two kinds of "hard work": The type where you are busy and putting out continuous effort and the kind where the hard part is resisting stupid suggestions from other people, resisting what the crowd is doing, resisting temptation and so on to stick to your guns and do things the right way. That kind of work may not look like hard work to outsiders but in some ways can be harder than looking like you are working hard. I have found that second category of hard work to be more productive and valuable than the first. The first is more about appearances and about reassuring ourselves we are "working hard". The second is about doing the right things at the right time. It often involves a lot less physical effort and therefore often looks like "slacking" and "luck" to outsider observers when it is neither.
I don't really understand your point, but will note that Klinger's dresses are a good example of someone working extremely hard at something and getting nowhere. :-)
There are two kinds of "hard work": The type where you are busy and putting out continuous effort and the kind where the hard part is resisting stupid suggestions from other people, resisting what the crowd is doing, resisting temptation and so on to stick to your guns and do things the right way. That kind of work may not look like hard work to outsiders but in some ways can be harder than looking like you are working hard. I have found that second category of hard work to be more productive and valuable than the first. The first is more about appearances and about reassuring ourselves we are "working hard". The second is about doing the right things at the right time. It often involves a lot less physical effort and therefore often looks like "slacking" and "luck" to outsider observers when it is neither.