Four NHS ways to work

This evening I was discussing the NHS with a friend (no names, no pack-drill) and it reminded me of a famous saying by a former commander in chief of the German Army who divided his officers into four groups

- clever and diligent,
- clever and lazy,
- stupid and lazy
- stupid and diligent.

the clever and energetic officers were ideal for the staff: clever and lazy officers were suited to high command. Stupid and lazy officers could handle routine jobs. But energetic and stupid officers should be cashiered at once, or if you couldn't get rid of them must not be trusted with anything important, as they would only cause trouble.

For the full quote and source look here.

This rule has been attributed to various German generals - and a similar comment is often attributed to Bill Gates - but it probably comes from General Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord, who was Chief of the German General Staff from 1930 to 1933 but left the post because he didn't have a very high opinion of the Nazis and they didn't like him either.


When I looked up the exact quote what should I find but a version applicable to the NHS.

This came from a post on the "Avoiding Puddles" by Doctor Andrew Foster, a Nottinghamshire GP.

Doctor Foster puts forward the very reasonable argument that all of us are capable of displaying all four of those characteristics at different times.

So rather than using General Hammerstein-Equord's table as a means of screening people you appoint, the same principle can be applied to our own behaviour - to emphasise the skills and behaviours which may be appropriate to any particular task with which we are faced

In particular,

Try not to be the energetic but stupid guy, he usually just causes trouble for himself and other people.

I can recommend both the specific article in which the cartoon above appeared (follow link above) and the "Avoiding Puddles" blog in general.