[bilch]

This seems to be a more boring paraphrase of Nazi general Knut von Hammerstein-Equord's "I divide my officers into four classes; the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the highest staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. 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!" (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_von_Hammerstein-Equord)

[gxs]

Not only is his take more interesting, it somehow carries more weight hearing from a Nazi general. Thanks for the link.

[ajb]

Wikipedia seems to think he was anything but a Nazi: 'Hammerstein-Equord was involved in several plots to overthrow Hitler' etc.

[gaius]

He was a Prussian. To students of military history, that says it all.

[shin_lao]

Sensible. The reason why you want smart / "lazy" people at the top is that they will delegate, and because they're smart, they will tend to delegate well.