One of the strangest phenomenon I witnessed was at Hallam. I saw PhD holders who decided to stay behind at Sheffield to earn salaries below a certain tax bracket rather than go to London. They didn't want to work harder only to pay more taxes and have similar income. Privilege.

It was the privilege not to chase wealth because you were in a society that provided basic comforts as long as you were ”productive enough”. There were also a few who became millionaires from working on their research and papers without the headache of the London rat race.

Our Strategy Professor Kevan Scholes owned no car and never visited shopping malls. He was widely published and was very rich. He lived a simple life in Sheffield. I learned a lot of lessons observing people like him. It is not about a career race but quality output.

I realized that where you live was more likely to make you rich than how hard you think you are working. Many times, what people think is hard work is just overcoming obstacles to exist. The hardest work is deep thinking and creation. It is not jumping on buses and trains.

You need comfort and lack of distraction to do your best work. Each time I am in Palo Alto seeing the simple homes without fences, I remember Lagos homes in supposedly affluent areas. I will always choose Palo Alto over Banana Island. Even Napa over the San Francisco Bay Area.

I took some time off once in San Francisco to go to Napa to get an article written. It was the best work I ever did. Suffering to be productive because of the hardship and limitations in your environment is not a virtue. This year has changed the nature of work permanently.