four types of officers - clever, diligent, stupid, and lazy

This gave Paul a good belly laugh - from the early 20th century anti-Nazi German General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord:

"I divide my officers into four groups. There are clever, diligent, stupid, and lazy officers. Usually two characteristics are combined. Some are clever and diligent -- their place is the General Staff. The next lot are stupid and lazy -- they make up 90 percent of every army and are suited to routine duties. Anyone who is both clever and lazy is qualified for the highest leadership duties, because he possesses the intellectual clarity and the composure necessary for difficult decisions. One must beware of anyone who is stupid and diligent -- he must not be entrusted with any responsibility because he will always cause only mischief."

Thanks go to Julia Winter for this awesome quote!

Are you clever and lazy?

Some times I feel diligent and stupid...

Oh the benefits of a good work break. How many times have I broken my back on some project that just seemed to keep running into hurdles only to take a break, rest, reflect, and realize that I was diligently toiling away at an ultimately stupid plan. Seems like clever and lazy is the permaculture recipe for success (as long as you've got a bit of gumption to put the work in once you've hit on the cleverest plan)

stephen lowe wrote:Seems like clever and lazy is the permaculture recipe for success (as long as you've got a bit of gumption to put the work in once you've hit on the cleverest plan)

This.

I whole-heartedly agree!



Here's a twist on this in an image from here:



We tend to like the term "innovator" around here, too. :-)

stephen lowe wrote: How many times have I broken my back on some project that just seemed to keep running into hurdles only to take a break, rest, reflect, and realize that I was diligently toiling away at an ultimately stupid plan.

:-) ... Yeah, I've found this true so many times.  In fact, it's ironic that we tend to double down on a project when it's not going well and get even more tunnel-visioned over the priorities.  But introduce a vacation or change of scenery for a bit and suddenly the old approaches and priorities seemed so nonsensical.