But that’s probably the rarest form of laziness.
A lot more common are these forms:
“I’ll keep doing this the dumb way because it’s too much work to think up a better way.”
“I’ll just do a half-assed job. It’ll be easier.”
“I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“Let somebody else handle it.”
“I’ll just ignore this problem.”
Most Microsoft products seem to have been developed using these principles.
Putting aside that smart people are the rarest form of people in general…
Sometimes a half-assed job really is good enough - and if it is then it’s a waste of time to go to the extra time and effort to make it perfect.
Sometimes putting it off until tomorrow will mean it doesn’t have to be done so often. (I wait until I’m completely out of shirts before laundering them, and even wait until it’s evening and I’ve changed into my pajamas so I can wash all of them, getting one extra day.)
As long as they do handle it, what’s the problem? It’s called “delegation”. Heck, I’ve made a habit of “You’re really familiar with this system, I’m not, so how about I be lazy and not spend days struggling to do this thing you could do in an hour? Kay thanks bye!”
Well, what happens if the problem is ignored?
No, seriously, what happens? What are the consequences? Maybe they’re not so bad.
There’s an industry term called “minimum viable product”. It’s short for, “We have a deadline! We can’t possibly do everything you imagined up! Please have mercy!”
I don’t even sort laundry unless there’s something exceptional, like a new pair of dark jeans or a load of rags that needs bleach. Haven’t had a problem in decades.
Same here.
I don’t sort laundry unless there is something special.
There’s a sequel about the ongoing adventures of the family, IIRC from Gilbreth Sr’s death (where the first book ends) to the youngest child graduating from college. It’s called Belles on Their Toes. Lillian features large in that one. It was also made into a film in 1952.
Not surprising that there is an xkcd comic about this. It compares the theory to the reality.
I thought of that too, but never got around to actually do it. Some day I may…
When I take a shower, I clean my feet by rubbing them against each other immediatly after rinsing the shampoo from my hair so I don’t have to bend down. I thought that was natural and everybody did it this way until my wife remarked she did not.
I am a great fan of labour division: I do the things I like, which I usually do well (the one reinforces the other in my experience) and delegate the rest. Sometimes it costs money, somethimes just a smile and a thank you!
And sometimes you are left with a pile of junk because some people are incredibly dumb, incompetent and lazy in the wrong way.