I don't know if it's that necessarily. I think most people understand (in theory, anyway), the benefit of working smart.

I think there's an assumption that the most successful people both work smart AND hard, which is likely true to some degree - e.g. successful pro athletes have staff that likely conduct well-targeted and thoughtful practices, but the hours and effort involved are still quite intense.

I more-so think the problem is that "working smart" requires a lot of careful planning and forethought, and is quite ambiguous in most cases what it actually means - and in many cases just happens serendipitously. Because of that, the process isn't as obvious.

It's much easier (intellectually, at least) to emulate the "working hard" part and to a large degree it's the one we reward the most societally (even in more intellectual circles), so it's not surprising that it's the one that people assume is the most necessary component of being successful - and that the "working smart" part will either come naturally, or after success is had.

It depends on what level you're playing at. If you have access to capital and social connections then yes you need to play smart in order to succeed.

If you're some random person with no access to capital or social connections then your focus should be luck.

As a random person who started with no social connections and no capital, I think about luck all the time and it helps me to make decisions. Mostly, it helps me to weigh up future opportunities against current opportunities - I think about things that happened to me and I ask myself how unlikely they were to occur; if they were very unlikely, I try to stay on that unlikely path. Never waste your luck; you have to keep moving forward wherever it takes you. Sometimes it leads you to places you don't want to be, but beggars can't be choosers.