The Truth Curve

Is it possible to be lazy and accomplish what you want to do or do you need to work hard in order to succeed? 

I’ve been thinking about this question ever since I stumbled upon the Productivity Showdown at Slackermanager where Steve Pavlina and Fred Gratzon (author of The Lazy Way to Success) engaged in a three-day debate about whether it’s laziness or hard work that leads to success.  After having eagerly consumed both Fred’s book and Steve’s posts, I still felt empty, having gotten no closer to an answer.  They both seemed right but if that were true, that would be paradoxical.

This paradox naturally intrigued me so I was compelled to resolve it.  In order to resolve it, let’s go back to the very definition of work.  But not to the kind of work that people do at their jobs (though we will get to that soon), but rather Work, as is used in physics.  Simply, Work is the transfer of energy from one system to another.  The simplest formula is W=Fd (where Work is Force multiplied by distance).  Any combination of force and distance can achieve some amount of Work.  You can have a small force going for a long distance or a large force going a short distance to accomplish the same amount of Work.  Work always involves motion of some sort.  For example, if you have to move a boulder, you have several options to accomplish this.  You could push it (using the force of your muscles), you could set it on an incline so that it rolls down by itself (using the force of gravity), you could pull it with a tractor (using technology), or you could use any number of other methods to get the boulder to move some distance.

Most options for getting Work done fall into the following categories:

• Your own labor
• Someone else’s labor
• Technology (e.g. tractor, computer, ox)
• Time, growth, or natural change
• Natural laws or resources (e.g. gravity, a waterfall, sun’s energy)

Now let’s see if we can apply the physics law to the world of work as we think of it.  Suppose you have some work you want to do.  Before you roll up your sleeves and get to work, consider the following: 

Work is a noun before it is a verb.

In other words, a Work is an accomplishment, an end result of force applied over distance.  But what does that mean?  It means that if you view work as an end result and not an activity (at least not yet), you open up the possibility of multiple paths to get to that result.  Let me give an example.

Let’s say that you have to add 1,000 numbers together. How many different ways are there to accomplish this task?  You have options from among the categories I listed above.  You could add the numbers yourself using a pencil and paper, you could use a calculator, you could write a computer program that will do this for you, you could delegate it to someone else to do or find some other solution I didn’t list.  In this example, you have multiple options for adding the numbers and you can choose one or more to complete the task.  But is this true for all tasks?  No, and this is where the interesting paradox comes in.

Some tasks have a single option: Your own labor.  For example, if you want to build muscle, I know of no way to delegate it, to use technology to do it for you (though you can certainly use weights or machines to assist you), to use natural resources, or time.  There is only you and if this is something you wish to accomplish, then you have to do the work.

You can only be lazy when you have options.  I believe this is what Fred Gratzon means in his book when he encourages one to find the lever.  In other words, finding the lever means finding the easy, clever solution that doesn’t require you to do any work.  But this is where Fred Gratzon’s book stops short for he doesn’t delve into tasks that have no options other than one’s own labor.  And there are many such tasks.  In fact, a lot of worthwhile tasks fall into this category. For those tasks, you have no choice but to do them yourself. 

So, what I conclude is not that laziness and work are opposites that are in conflict but rather, that they are labels for two different situations: one in which you have a choice, and one in which you don’t have a choice. Work begins where options end. But, as Fred Gratzon indicates in his book, it need not be work if you follow your bliss.

Now that I look at it that way, it’s no longer a paradox.

Tags: Laziness, Paradox, Work by Julie
3 Comments »

 

How do you know if your relationship is meant to be?

Every so often, I get wrapped up in an agonizing analysis of someone else’s behavior. This used to be routine when I was single and dating.  But it has also happened to me with friendships.  It has even happened to me with potential jobs and job interviews so this phenomenon is not limited to romantic relationships. It works like this: I start to like someone a lot and it seems as if that person likes me a lot too.  We begin to spend lots of time together.  Then, for no fathomable reason, an abrupt change happens and I perceive that the other person is pulling back.  I begin to analyze.  I conclude that I must have done something wrong so I attempt to make things right.  I begin to walk on eggshells.  I like this person so I focus on behaving just so and doing things just so and giving the other person space and making sure that I do absolutely everything right so as not to lose that person.  For a while, the relationship continues in a tentative way until the other person finally decides to let me go.  Since I am not an aggressive person, I never fight to get back into that person’s life.  I always let them go but I spend even more time analyzing what happened.  I ask myself what I could have done differently so that I could get a different outcome. I come to conclusions about how I should have turned left instead of turning right.  And on and on and on.  Time passes of course and wounds heal and I get over this person. 

What I have learned through bitter experience is that the die has already been cast.  There is NOTHING that I could have done differently that would have created a different and better outcome.  If you are in this situation, stop fighting it because you have no control over this. The other person has already decided to let you go but it’s going to take a little bit of time for them to work through their mixed feelings and guilt before they get up the nerve to show you the door.  Think of this as a kindness on their part.  The earlier they let you go, the kinder they are.  Why?  Because your relationship was never robust and never will be.  It would have eventually come to an end and there was nothing you could have done to save it.

But what do I mean by robust?  In computer science, a robust system (software, operating system, etc.) is one that can keep functioning under many different conditions, including adverse conditions or stressful conditions.  In statistics, a robust finding is one that keeps coming up over and over again in different settings and with different variables.  Something that is robust performs without failure despite stressful or adverse conditions.  If you accidentally send your cell phone through the wash cycle because you left it in your pocket and it still works afterwards, it’s a robust cell phone.

You see, relationships are also either robust or fragile and this is obvious from the beginning.  Now, a robust relationship may not necessarily last; it can end for other reasons, but at least in the beginning, you ought to be able to assess immediately whether it is robust or not.

So when you are in the early stages of a relationship and you are analyzing it to death and you feel like you are walking on eggshells, ask yourself, Is this a robust relationship?  If you don’t police yourself, if you don’t have to choose your words carefully, if you let it all hang out, if you say goofy or foolish things, does the other person tolerate it?  Do they overlook it and like you just the same or do you begin to feel as though you crossed some line that’s an unspoken deal-breaker for them?  If you can be yourself without fear that you’ll turn the other person off then your relationship is robust.  If you feel that you have to behave a certain way to please the other person then you have a weak relationship to begin with and you shouldn’t bother with trying to hold on to it because sooner or later, that person is going to let you go.  So why not end it now and spare yourself the agony?

Trust the robust.

Tags: Relationships by Julie
2 Comments »