Why being lazy and stupid isn't such a bad thing

I've been around an awful lot of working folks in my time, and it's given me the opportunity to make some observations.

I don't intend this to be a scientific study; more of an anecdotal report on what's what in the world of Human Resources, or HR as they like to call it.

HR is one of the few things you can get into with a degree in Sociology. Then of course it depends on if you took the right Sociology courses. The sociology of organizations is pretty much a must-have. Anything with Industrial sociology in the title is good on the resume.

The sociology of poverty ain't gonna help you much, so if you took that, might as well leave it off the resume.

But where I have to part ways with the professional HR crowd is when it comes to the folks deemed "stupid and lazy".

Think about it for a minute.

I've been in all kinds of workplaces, and I've concluded that stupid and lazy employees are among the best hires.

Your smart and lazy types are the worst. They'll be looking for ways to get on the long-term disability plan from the moment they're hired. Avoid them like the plague. The last thing you want at your company is folks who are really smart and really lazy.

Of course it goes without saying that the best kind of employees are the ones who are both smart and hard-working. These are the kind of people who will take you places. They'll be inventing new stuff, figuring out how to market old stuff as if it's new, and coming up with new terms for both "shit" and "shinola".

But you don't want to gamble too much on these folks. As valuable as they are to your company, your competitor across town might find them even more valuable. Be warned!

Then there's the stupid side of the ledger. You've got your stupid but hard-working and your stupid and lazy.

Here's the problem with the stupid hard workers. They've got a great work ethic. They are loyal and honorable. But they're stupid. They can go a long long way down the wrong road before anybody catches on to the fact that they're on the wrong road.

That can cost your company a lot of money. If you're in HR and your hire costs your company a lot of money, you will be unemployed really fast.

That's why lazy stupid people are your safest bet.

They're not going to rush into anything.

They're not going to go out of their way to show "initiative".

In fact, they aren't going to make a move until you tell them exactly what to do. And even then they won't be rushing into it.

Play it safe.

Hire the stupid and lazy people first.