New Delhi, April 8 -- Shruti Mehta, a content strategist at a Mumbai advertising agency, takes on any task assigned to her, even if she has too much on her plate. She describes herself as a 'workhorse' but complains that it has not helped her career as she has not been promoted in three years. "Despite being a reliable resource and never refusing any task, my boss has always preferred others who don't put in as much work but deliver big wins. That's something I lack," she says.

Thomas Edison's famous line, "There's no substitute for hard work", has long served as a guiding principle. While perseverance and sincerity are crucial for professional growth, hard work alone cannot guarantee success anymore.

"The marketplace and ecosystem are ...