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Comment by DennisP | Hacker News Reader

My brother's an officer in the Navy, and just told me about a book he's reading about a German general, I think from WWII. He classified his staff into four categories, and treated them accordingly:

Stupid/Lazy: harmless. Keep around doing whatever you can get them to do.

Stupid/Energetic: fire immediately before they do damage.

Smart/Energetic: useful, give them lots of middle-management work.

Smart/Lazy: put in high-ranking positions, they'll find efficiencies that will trickle down to everyone.

I'll ask him the source and post it later.

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General Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord?

“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!”

I think it might have originally been the Prussian Field Marshall von Moltke:

http://old-soldier-colonel.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/field-mars...

Just got his response, that's the one.

parent is right - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_von_Hammerstein-Equord#cit... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_von_Hammerstein-Equord#cit...

there's a chinese management saying that a horse type employee is one that has great skill and integrity, this type you ride to the top, he/she will take you to far places, a dog type has integrity, but isnt smart so you keep; a monkey type is smart, but has no integrity, this type of employee you kick around, but use, and a pig type isnt smart and has no integrity, this type you get rid of as soon as possible.

I think this general may be Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox.

See also, http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-o... - along similar lines, even if it's not a 2x2. It's doubtless been on HN numerous times, but if you haven't read it before then it might, at the very least, pass the time.

(The ribbonfarm guy likes 2x2 diagrams as well: http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/04/20/how-to-draw-and-judge-q...)

Making war and making software are very different.

Some of us are either making software about war or warring about making software. So, it all works out in the end.

As far as these categories are concerned I think they're exactly the same. Only difference is that in a commercial environment you don't want to waste much money on dumb/lazy people, unless you've got enough menial work that you can't automate.

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