You know I’m a fan of the book, “The 80/20 Principle” by Richard Koch. He wrote a sequel, “Living the 80/20 Way: Work Less, Worry Less, Succeed More, Enjoy More. In it, Koch quotes General Erich von Manstein, an officer in the German army, speaking about leadership:
“There are only four types of officers.
First, there are the lazy, stupid ones. Leave them alone, they do no harm.
Second, there are the hard-working intelligent ones. They make excellent staff officers, ensuring that every detail is properly considered.
Third, there are the hard-working, stupid ones. These people are a menace, and must be fired at once. They create irrelevant work for everybody.
Finally, there are the intelligent lazy ones. They are suited for the highest office.â€
Different versions of this citation have appeared, sometimes attributing the quote to others. In 1942 Viscount Swinton (Philip Lloyd-Greame) spoke in the House of Lords in London. He described the four classes of officers and credited an unnamed German General:
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.
What does this tell us? I think it tells us that maybe we are too industrious for our own good. Maybe we need to do less work and more thinking. Maybe we need to delegate more work to hard-working intelligent people who will take care of the details while we take care of the big picture.
I’m going to take some time to think about this. How about you?
Behold: an easier way to get more referrals from other professionals
