“I divide my officers into four classes as follows: The clever, the industrious, the lazy, and the stupid. Each officer always possesses two of these qualities.
Those who are clever and industrious I appoint to the General Staff.
Use can under certain circumstances be made of those who are stupid and lazy.
The man who is clever and lazy qualifies for the highest leadership posts. He has the requisite nerves and the mental clarity for difficult decisions.
But whoever is stupid and industrious must be got rid of, for he is too dangerous.”
I would say the 4th class of people are the ones likely to churn out a horrifying codebase. Such people are also unlikely to be able to recognize and learn from their mistakes.
But whoever is stupid and industrious must be got rid of, for he is too dangerous.”
I would say the 4th class of people are the ones likely to churn out a horrifying codebase. Such people are also unlikely to be able to recognize and learn from their mistakes.
These are the people that do “negative work”. They cause other people to do more work than if they weren’t there.
I disagree. The quote is for where to place personnel in a leadership hierarchy. A leader without the appropriate aptitude is obviously harmful; but I would say there are actually no grunts in software. Every developer has to lead at least themselves.
“I divide my officers into four classes as follows: The clever, the industrious, the lazy, and the stupid. Each officer always possesses two of these qualities.
Those who are clever and industrious I appoint to the General Staff.
Use can under certain circumstances be made of those who are stupid and lazy.
The man who is clever and lazy qualifies for the highest leadership posts. He has the requisite nerves and the mental clarity for difficult decisions.
But whoever is stupid and industrious must be got rid of, for he is too dangerous.”
I would say the 4th class of people are the ones likely to churn out a horrifying codebase. Such people are also unlikely to be able to recognize and learn from their mistakes.