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Re; This particular quote from the article… > "Stop confusing productivity with laziness. While no one likes admitting it, sheer laziness is the No. 1 contribu

Re; This particular quote from the article… > "Stop confusing productivity with laziness. While no one likes admitting it, sheer laziness is the No. 1 contributor to lost productivity." I was taught growing up that if it's something you must do anyhow, then true laziness is finding the simplest and most effective way to do a given task quickly and correctly the first time so that you don't have to waste time and effort doing it again or fixing your screw-up. Sounds pretty "productive" to me…

6stringmerc 4y ago
I heard a quote once that a general or some leader said he preferred “highly intelligent and slightly lazy” people because they found the most efficient and reliable ways to get things done, and quickly as a bonus!
- danuker 4y ago
  Bill Gates — 'I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.'
  - bluedino 4y ago
    A true lazy person would never do it.
- SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
  > General Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord, the present chief of the German Army, has a method of selecting officers which strikes us as being highly original and peculiarly un-Prussian. According to Exchange, a Berlin newspaper has printed the following as his answer to a query as to how he judged his officers: > “I divide my officers into four classes as follows: The clever, the industrious, the lazy, and the stupid. Each officer always possesses two of these qualities. > Those who are clever and industrious I appoint to the General Staff. Use can under certain circumstances be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy qualifies for the highest leadership posts. He has the requisite nerves and the mental clarity for difficult decisions. But whoever is stupid and industrious must be got rid of, for he is too dangerous.” Or > I do not know whether your Lordships are familiar with the saying of a German General that there are four types of officer but I think that it is relevant to what we are discussing. He said that there are four types of officer: the clever and lazy, the clever and industrious, the stupid and lazy, and the stupid and industrious. > The clever and lazy you make Chief of Staff, because he will not try to do everybody else’s work, and will always have time to think. The clever and industrious you make his deputy. The stupid and lazy you put into a line battalion, and kick him into doing a job of work. The stupid and industrious you must get rid of at once, because he is a national danger.
  - 6stringmerc 4y ago
    That’s the one! Thank you for the text so I can cite it properly.
dade_ 4y ago
My father runs a business, one day many years ago in his shop he needed help moving a bunch of material. I explained it would be a lot faster to do it a different way, and he commented that would be the lazy way to do it. It wasn’t the first time I’d run into this thinking, though it has stuck with me ever since. I explained this isn’t about exerting less effort, but that for the same effort we get a heck of a lot more done. I guess that’s when I first realized that management consulting can be a good thing. Of course, 30 years later, I know management consultants are often frauds that have no idea what they are talking about or doing. They make business benefits by slowing wage growth and by essentially forcing smaller groups of people to do more work by laying off their coworkers. Not the efficiency I had in mind. https://www.economist.com/business/2022/04/09/how-mba-wielding-bosses-boost-profits https://www.economist.com/business/2022/04/09/how-mba-wieldi... The protestant work ethic is a powerful tool, but people need to know that it is a religious value now woven into society. Not to avoid doing productive things, because I think it can provide the most amazing successes and a wonderful life, but to be aware that it is horribly abused in America by business management. “Idle hands are the devil’s hands.” And it drives all sorts of compulsion. None of this is new, but if I could go back in time, I would find Chuck Palahniuk, and explain to him that the problem in our society isn’t the banks, but the big consulting firms. Oh that would be a much more satisfying ending to Fight Club.
- SilasX 4y ago
  > My father runs a business, one day many years ago in his shop he needed help moving a bunch of material. I explained it would be a lot faster to do it a different way, and he commented that would be the lazy way to do it. It wasn’t the first time I’d run into this thinking, though it has stuck with me ever since. Bojack Horseman: “Are you gonna sail around the cape like a real man, or are you gonna cut through the Panama Canal like a Democrat?”
- hbosch 4y ago
  The matrix for effort vs. impact is something I find myself drawing in meetings a lot. Effort Low High ┌───────────┬───────────┐ I │ │ │ m Low │ Ok │ Bad │ p │ │ │ a ├───────────┼───────────┤ c │ │ │ t High │ Perfect │ Ok │ │ │ │ └───────────┴───────────┘
throw10920 4y ago
This is a definition difference. You're defining "laziness" as "effectiveness"/"efficiency", broadly - which is a valid definition that I've heard many times, but not the only one. The article, instead, uses a definition of "laziness" that is "doing the things that you want to, instead of the things that you should do". Your version of "laziness" is quite admirable, honestly.

6stringmerc 4y ago

I heard a quote once that a general or some leader said he preferred “highly intelligent and slightly lazy” people because they found the most efficient and reliable ways to get things done, and quickly as a bonus!

danuker 4y ago
Bill Gates — 'I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.'
- bluedino 4y ago
  A true lazy person would never do it.
SideburnsOfDoom 4y ago
> General Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord, the present chief of the German Army, has a method of selecting officers which strikes us as being highly original and peculiarly un-Prussian. According to Exchange, a Berlin newspaper has printed the following as his answer to a query as to how he judged his officers: > “I divide my officers into four classes as follows: The clever, the industrious, the lazy, and the stupid. Each officer always possesses two of these qualities. > Those who are clever and industrious I appoint to the General Staff. Use can under certain circumstances be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy qualifies for the highest leadership posts. He has the requisite nerves and the mental clarity for difficult decisions. But whoever is stupid and industrious must be got rid of, for he is too dangerous.” Or > I do not know whether your Lordships are familiar with the saying of a German General that there are four types of officer but I think that it is relevant to what we are discussing. He said that there are four types of officer: the clever and lazy, the clever and industrious, the stupid and lazy, and the stupid and industrious. > The clever and lazy you make Chief of Staff, because he will not try to do everybody else’s work, and will always have time to think. The clever and industrious you make his deputy. The stupid and lazy you put into a line battalion, and kick him into doing a job of work. The stupid and industrious you must get rid of at once, because he is a national danger.
- 6stringmerc 4y ago
  That’s the one! Thank you for the text so I can cite it properly.

dade_ 4y ago

My father runs a business, one day many years ago in his shop he needed help moving a bunch of material. I explained it would be a lot faster to do it a different way, and he commented that would be the lazy way to do it. It wasn’t the first time I’d run into this thinking, though it has stuck with me ever since. I explained this isn’t about exerting less effort, but that for the same effort we get a heck of a lot more done. I guess that’s when I first realized that management consulting can be a good thing. Of course, 30 years later, I know management consultants are often frauds that have no idea what they are talking about or doing. They make business benefits by slowing wage growth and by essentially forcing smaller groups of people to do more work by laying off their coworkers. Not the efficiency I had in mind. https://www.economist.com/business/2022/04/09/how-mba-wielding-bosses-boost-profits https://www.economist.com/business/2022/04/09/how-mba-wieldi... The protestant work ethic is a powerful tool, but people need to know that it is a religious value now woven into society. Not to avoid doing productive things, because I think it can provide the most amazing successes and a wonderful life, but to be aware that it is horribly abused in America by business management. “Idle hands are the devil’s hands.” And it drives all sorts of compulsion. None of this is new, but if I could go back in time, I would find Chuck Palahniuk, and explain to him that the problem in our society isn’t the banks, but the big consulting firms. Oh that would be a much more satisfying ending to Fight Club.

SilasX 4y ago
> My father runs a business, one day many years ago in his shop he needed help moving a bunch of material. I explained it would be a lot faster to do it a different way, and he commented that would be the lazy way to do it. It wasn’t the first time I’d run into this thinking, though it has stuck with me ever since. Bojack Horseman: “Are you gonna sail around the cape like a real man, or are you gonna cut through the Panama Canal like a Democrat?”
hbosch 4y ago
The matrix for effort vs. impact is something I find myself drawing in meetings a lot. Effort Low High ┌───────────┬───────────┐ I │ │ │ m Low │ Ok │ Bad │ p │ │ │ a ├───────────┼───────────┤ c │ │ │ t High │ Perfect │ Ok │ │ │ │ └───────────┴───────────┘

throw10920 4y ago

This is a definition difference. You're defining "laziness" as "effectiveness"/"efficiency", broadly - which is a valid definition that I've heard many times, but not the only one. The article, instead, uses a definition of "laziness" that is "doing the things that you want to, instead of the things that you should do". Your version of "laziness" is quite admirable, honestly.