I divide my officers into four classes; the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Most often two of these qualities come together. The officers who are clever and industrious are fitted for the highest staff appointments. Those who are stupid and lazy make up around 90% of every army in the world, and they can be used for routine work. The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious is a menace and must be removed immediately!

The quote comes from a manual on military command written in 1933.  If Hammerstein-Equord was a modern day consultant he would have immediately sensed a two-by-two matrix, so we have indulged ourselves and mapped it out.  We’ve found this picture generates some very interesting conversations!

If this diagram tickles you, you might want to follow up by reading Venkat Rao’s trail of posts on “The Gervais Principle” (starting here), which follows a similar idea.  This series has attracted a lot of attention and for good reason.  Be warned – as with all Venkat’s writing, it’s more like reading chapters in a book than reading blog posts.  Worth the effort though.

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