Philosophy Friday: Being Intelligent Is Not Enough

General Erich Von Manstein (1887-1973) had this to say about German army officers:

“There are only four types of officer. 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.”

Was Von Manstein joking? Or was he serious when he said those words?

Well, let’s consider a few examples. Do you think that Elon Musk is busy working every waking hour rather than thinking about how he could further change the world? Do you believe that Jeff Bezos’ wealth is a function of the hours he’s worked? Do you reckon Warren Buffett became the world’s most successful investor by constantly crunching numbers?

No, of course not. What these extraordinary individuals have in common is that they spend much of their time pondering and planning.

They know that working harder doesn’t work—so they work less.

Working less produces better results. Having time to think allows us to see what we really want. Once we know this, we can work out how to get it.

“It is better to be roughly right than precisely wrong.”
— John Maynard Keynes

Action drives out results. Busy people are working too hard to consider what important things they might be ignoring. They miss out on life’s opportunities—if they had only paused and looked up.

If we want to be exceptionally successful, we must spend time being inactive and idle, considering and reconsidering our options. Only once we have settled on the best way to proceed, then we jump to action.