EMBA的小眼睛

The other kinds of laziness

There's the obvious sort of laziness, the laziness of not trying very hard, of avoiding strenuous tasks or heavy lifting, of getting others to do your work or not showing up for many hours each day.

We're quick to point fingers at others (and ourselves) when we demonstrate this sort of sloth.

But there are other sorts of laziness, and they're far more damaging.

There's the laziness of racism and sexism, which permits us to write people off (or reward them) without doing the hard work of actually seeing them for who they are.

There's the laziness of bureaucracy, which gives us the chance to avoid the people right in front of us, defaulting instead to rules and systems.

And the laziness of rules of thumb, which means we won't have to think very hard about the problem in front of us, and don't have to accept responsibility for the choices we make.

Don't forget the laziness of letting someone else tell us what to do, ceding the choice-making to anyone bold enough to announce what we're supposed to do next.

Or consider the simple laziness of not being willing to sit with uncertainty...

Emotional labor is very different from physical labor. It's hard to measure, for starters, and it's easier to avoid, but the consequences are significant.

When we find ourselves looking for a shortcut, an excuse or an easy way out, we're actually indulging in our laziness.

The hard work involves embracing uncertainty, dancing with fear and taking responsibility before it's given to us.