The Hustler, The WHAS and The Lazy Intelligent: the doing-thinking profile

There are several ways to be lazy intelligent: how we work with ideas and strategies, how we aim to maximize output with minimal input and how we use our energy. This blog post discusses one aspect of the lazy intelligent, namely how we work and perform.

Too many people work in ways that are not their own ways. Told by a boss, a former teacher, or a partner how we should work, we rarely take a step back and ask whether it is the right way for us to work.

Humans are created different

No two people are the same. We differ on the outside and on the inside. We differ in appearance: how we look, our weight, our height; and we differ mentally: how we talk, how we act, what we feel and how we think. Our DNA-structure, with its 3 billion base pairs, makes it impossible for two people to be identical. With such possibility for variation, virtually all combinations of human characteristics must be possible! Is it then such a long stretch to assume that different people perform in different ways? Peter Drucker did not think so. In his classic “Managing Oneself”, he challenged us with a fundamental question: How do I perform?

“Amazingly few people know how they get things done. Indeed, most of us do not even know that different people work and perform differently.” —Peter Drucker

Different people perform at their best in different ways

Just as people achieve results by doing what they are good at, we also achieve results by working in the ways in which we work best.

There are several ways in which people differ in performance: some people learn from reading and others from listening, some think well while talking and others in quiet, some work in bursts followed by rest and others by disciplined chipping away. We may work well with other people, or we may work best alone. Some are good at making decisions and some at advising on decisions. Some thrive on stress whereas others need a highly predictable environment.

These differences were all highlighted by Drucker.

The lazy intelligent should ask the following question: where do I put my energy to perform at my best? Do I put my energy primarily into actively doing things, or do I put my energy into mental thinking activities?

The doing-thinking profile can help you understand how you perform

A simple way of visualizing how much energy you expend on doing vs thinking is the doing-thinking profile. It is a simple graph with 2 bars on the X-axis, one denoted Doing and one denoted Thinking, and with percentage (%) energy expended on the Y-axis. A simple illustration of a 60-40 doing-thinking profile is shown below.

The optimal fraction of doing vs thinking will be different for everyone. To understand the concept further, we can consider three archetypes.

Three archetypes: The Hustler, The WHAS and The Lazy Intelligent

The relative energy expended on doing vs thinking can have three relations, doing > thinking, doing=thinking and doing < thinking. These relations can be thought of as forming three basic archetypes:

• The Hustler: prefers acting and doing more than he or she prefers thinking. The Hustler is often most effective when given room to engage with the world in this way.  Generally, the hustler chooses the best course of action by doing everything and then doubling down on what works.

• The WHAS (Work-Hard-And-Smart): prefers to balance action and thinking, working both hard and smart. They generally plan out several courses of action, choose one or several of them that they deem most effective and execute well on them.

• The Lazy Intelligent: prefers to think long and carefully before acting. His or her instinct will be to think and figure out the most effective course of action. The lazy intelligent can be reluctant to act if not convinced that the action will be highly effective, but acts with full force when convinced.

These descriptions may or may not fit you. With some self-reflection, however, the archetypes can serve by helping you understand how to live, work and perform in the way that is best suited and most enjoyable for you!

The archetypes can help you understand yourself

If you are not sure if you are a Hustler, a WHAS or a Lazy Intelligent, there are many questions you can ask yourself! Are you generally super-active on your spare time? Or do you like to sit down and read and reflect? Do you start moving squirming when you sit down, itching to get up and do something, or are you cozily happy?

None of these archetypes are better than another; people can be effective, happy and successful inhabiting any of the three archetypes. However, living out one archetype, when in reality you would feel and perform better in another, can make you unhappy or unfulfilled.

It did to me! For too long I thought I was a WHAS-type. It didn’t feel right, and I wasn’t effective. I tried being a Hustler, but I quickly burned out. What was right for me, and what I should have been doing was to live and work as a Lazy Intelligent. Once I realized this, it was as if a big burden was lifted off my shoulders. I was liberated, and I am much more effective this way!

The doing-thinking profile can guide you to better performance

Try to make a best guess yourself, or ask a friend or colleague when it is that you perform at your best. What fraction of your energy do you expend on doing vs thinking when you are at your optimum? Write down your optimal doing-thinking profile! If you are not expending your energy that way, there is room for improvement. You could be a Hustler that is not Hustling enough, a WHAS that is thinking or hustling too much, or a Lazy Intelligent that is too active. The reverse could also be true: you could be a Lazy Intelligent that is doing too little! If you change your ways, the result could be remarkable!

Which archetype are you?

Are you a Hustler, a WHAS or a Lazy Intelligent? Remember that none of these archetypes is better than the other. You are who you are (with some minor room for adjustment), and if you are one or the other you can be happy and successful in each! The world is full of examples of successful Hustlers, WHAS and Lazy Intelligents! Find your archetype and live as you should!

Does that mean I should stop reading the blog if I am not lazy intelligent? (Answer is no)

The method described here can be used to find out if you are lazy intelligent in one out of 3 possible ways. The other two ways of being lazy intelligent are:

1. If you use ideas, strategies and principles as leverage for achieving results, or if you

2. Aim to achieve the maximum result with minimal work or effort

If any of those fit, you will get value from this blog!