The Lazy Man's Way Of Working
Bill Gates famously said “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” Robert Heinlein, the renowned science-fiction writer, said “Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.” Mind, neither of them encouraged procrastination. Laziness in itself isn’t productive, unless it’s combined with creativity and a drive to work smart, not hard.
Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord was a 20th century German general. He had a particularly interesting model for classifying army officers: "I distinguish four types. There are clever, hardworking, stupid, and lazy officers. Usually two characteristics are combined. Some are clever and hardworking; their place is the General Staff. The next ones 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 mental clarity and strength of nerve necessary for difficult decisions. One must beware of anyone who is both stupid and hardworking; he must not be entrusted with any responsibility because he will always only cause damage”.
It’s not too difficult to interpret this for modern organisations. If you happen to see similarities with Covey’s urgent/important matrix for effectiveness, that’s not a coincidence...
Smart | Highest-value focus. Simplify, automate, eliminate. Proactive Preventers | Driven, but silo’d. Reactive Solvers |
Stupid | Complaints but no solutions. Uninterested Executors | Compulsive meeting-goers. Busy Non-Achievers |
Lazy | Hardworking |
We evolved to conserve energy, and solve problems. Lazy smart people know a problem prevented is a problem solved forever. One chemical plant operator said: “knowledge management is a lazy man’s way of working.” It enables lazy smart people to leverage experience - theirs and the group’s - to their benefit.
Lazy smart people know building an FAQ prevents having to answer the same question over and over again. They know asking “who has already done this” prevents having to figure it out themselves. Lazy smart people don’t crave the validation that ‘problem solvers’ do. They take the time to save time.
23 December 2023
Metaknowledge Part VII : Governance
This part provides an overview of the different methods and tools to ensure a successful KM program.
Metaknowledge Part V : Roles
A deep dive into the different roles involved in each of the knowledge management activities.
Metaknowledge Part IV: Process
An in-depth examination of the processes and practices related to the four knowledge management activities, with examples for each.
Metaknowledge Part III: The 4X4KM knowledge management framework
This part of the Metaknowledge Guide provides the 4X4KM framework, based on the four core KM activities. This framework is an invaluable tool in organizing your KM, and keeping your efforts focused and productive.
Metaknowledge Part II: The three kinds of knowledge management
This part of the Metaknowledge Guide outlines the the three kinds of knowledge management, and how knowledge management relates to learning & development.
Metaknowledge Part I: Knowledge, Information, and Data
A practical, intuitive interpretation of "knowledge", and how it compares to information and data. This will help you position knowledge management in relation to information management and data management in your organisation.
The Do's and Dont's of IT projects
What should we do to (and not do) to ensure the project runs smoothly, and delivers the best results? I asked a few experienced IT project managers what they've learned.
How we used Digital Transformation to improve construction projects
Here's the story of how we used process analysis and digital transformation to speed up construction project initiation.
It Took A Lot Of Jelly Beans
Peter Maeseele is an expert in design and business analysis, and a lead in a number of IT knowledge management initiatives. In this talk he shared some of his experiences and insights - and why jelly beans proved a key component of their change management.
Three Tricks I Learned, And You Should Too
Much of the value of knowledge sharing comes from sharing and reusing tricks and small improvements that are easy to replicate and adopt. Here are three 'tricks' I learned to improve work and life.
Better IT knowledge sharing = happier customers
Fewer calls, lower costs, and happier customers. Here are some results different IT teams saw by improving their knowledge sharing and communication. What would achieving similar results mean for you and your team?
[Interview] Not Everything German Is All German
Marianne Rutz shares some great insights and practical advice on how to account for local culture in global service teams, and how teams can leverage cultural diversity to improve their services.
[Interview] Breaking Silos in the Virtual Workplace
In this talk, Stefano Leone (IT communications and people strategy at Euroclear) sin improving collaboration and breaking down silo's in a tech-focused environment.
[Interview] The future of IT services
I recently appeared on the podcast of Marianne Rutz, a leading operational excellence consultant in the contact center industry. We talked about the future of IT services, and how to deliver real value to customers.
Nobody cares about the ServiceDesk
Traditionally, the ServiceDesk offers a safety net for IT users. But here's the thing: nobody wants a good safety net. They want to not need a safety net.
Shift-Left: getting started the right way
Many IT organisations are working to implement a shift-left of knowledge and capabilities. However, many of these initiatives don't deliver the expected results. To prevent this from happening to you, I’d like to share three pieces of advice to get started the right way.